“We will surely get a few portable smart card readers soon. We have three flying squads in Pune, therefore, we will certainly get a minimum of three readers, even though the possibility of getting a few more cannot be ruled out,” said Pune RTO Chandrakant Kharatmal. With the gadgets likely to arrive this week, the transport authority will very soon start registering offences.

While it was in 2007 that the RTO had started distributing smart cards instead of the earlier paperback drivers’ licences and registration certificates, absence of the card readers had rendered the move only partially successful.

“Despite distributing lakhs of smart cards to citizens, the RTO had a major handicap of not having the smart card readers. Hence, there were limitations of registering complaints against the offenders. However, with the readers in hand we can easily register offences in case of traffic violation and also be able to decode the information stored in the microchip,” Kharatmal said.

He added, “In case we find out that the licence holder is a frequent offender, ultimately his smart card licence will be cancelled for good.”

The smart cards possess basic information about the licence holder printed on it, while other details are stored in its microchip. The card-reader, which looks like a calculator has a USB port on the side to connect the reader to the digital printer.

In 2000, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways had got the smart card software prepared by the National Informatics Centre (NIC). Following this, the RTO had appointed United Telecom Limited and Shonck Tech as its service providers. Now, this software has been incorporated in Central Motor Vehicle Rules and will be uniformly made available throughout India in a single format.