Permanent Driving Licence: Apply, Driving Test and Fees

When can you apply for a permanent driving licence?

You can take the driving test only after holding your learner licence for at least 30 days. You must also pass it while the learner licence is still valid, which is 6 months from its issue. Delhi's transport department puts it simply: apply after one month and within six months.

Test slots can be booked out for days or weeks in busy RTOs. Apply soon after day 30 so a failed test still leaves time for a retest before your learner licence expires.

What do you need, and what does it cost?

Documents

• Your learner licence, valid and at least 30 days old (bring the original or the printout on the test day).
• The application you fill in on Sarathi (the learner licence details carry over automatically).
• Photo and signature: taken at the RTO on test day in some states (for example Tamil Nadu), or uploaded with the application.
• For the test vehicle: its registration certificate (RC), valid insurance, PUC certificate and tax papers, and L plates.
• If you trained at a driving school: its certificate (Form 5). From an accredited centre: Form 5B (see below).
• Form 1A medical certificate if your state asks for it (for transport vehicles always; many states also from age 40).

Fees

How do you apply and book the driving test?

YouSarathi / RTOFee or waiting

1. Open Sarathi at sarathi.parivahan.gov.in and select your state.
2. Start the application: choose Apply for Driving Licence (menu: Driving Licence → New Driving Licence). Enter your learner licence number and date of birth. Your details and classes come from the learner licence.
3. Upload anything the page asks for, such as a photo, signature or Form 1A.
4. Pay the fee under Fee Payments. If the payment is debited but not confirmed, check Verify Payment Status before paying again.
5. Book the test: Appointments → DL Test Slot Booking. Pick a date and print the slot receipt. To change the date, cancel the slot (Cancel DL Test Slot) and book again.
6. Go for the test on the date with your documents and vehicle (see the next section).

✔ You'll know it worked when the slot receipt shows your name, the RTO, the date and time and the vehicle class.

Open Sarathi (official) sarathi.parivahan.gov.in

What happens on the driving test day?

At the RTO your documents and photo are checked first. Then an inspector (or an automated track with cameras and sensors) watches you drive. What you do depends on the vehicle:

Why people fail

From the manoeuvres tested, these are the usual mistakes: touching a line, pole or cone; putting a foot down on the two-wheeler track; rolling back on a slope; not signalling or not checking mirrors; stalling repeatedly; and missing the seat belt or helmet. Practise the track layout of your RTO before the day; driving schools often have the same layout.

On automated tracks (used in Delhi and some other states), sensors and cameras mark the result. You can't argue with the machine, so practise until you can do each manoeuvre without touching anything.

What happens after the test?

Can a driving school's certificate replace the RTO test?

Only an accredited one. Since 1 July 2021 the rules allow Accredited Driver Training Centres (ADTC), approved by the state transport authority, with simulators and a dedicated test track. If you complete the course and pass its test, the centre issues a certificate in Form 5B, and that certificate exempts you from the RTO driving test. The RTO still issues your licence.

An ordinary driving school gives a Form 5 training certificate. That shows you trained, but you still take the RTO test. In June 2024 there were claims that, from 1 June, private driving schools could issue licences or that the RTO test was ending. The Ministry of Road Transport clarified that only an accredited centre's Form 5B exempts you from the test, and that the RTO still issues the licence.

When and how does the driving licence arrive?

• On your phone first. As soon as the licence is issued you can add it to DigiLocker or the mParivahan app. A licence fetched there is legally equal to the card.
• The card by Speed Post to the address on your application. Track it on Sarathi: Others → Track Dispatch Article Status.
• How long? There is no fixed national time; it depends on your RTO's printing and the post. If nothing arrives in a few weeks, check the dispatch status, then contact the RTO.

You can also print your licence details on Sarathi under Driving Licence → Print Driving Licence.

How do you add a car or a bike to your existing licence?

Adding a class (an "endorsement") follows the same route as a new licence, for that one class:

1. Get a learner licence for the new class on Sarathi (you take the learner test again).
2. After 30 days, apply to add the class: Driving Licence → Services on DL (or Others → Add Class of Vehicles in some states).
3. Book and pass the driving test in that vehicle.

Your existing classes stay on the licence. If you are adding a transport class, or if your state asks for it at your age, you also need a Form 1A medical certificate.

What can go wrong, and how do you fix it?