With the aim of ensuring that only competent drivers hit the roads, Maharashtra Transport Department intends to implement Automated Driving Test Tracks across 38 Regional Transport Offices (RTOs). This move is part of an effort to address the rising number of daily applicants.

In Mumbai, around 1,200 people apply for a driving licence daily, with several hundreds more applying for learner's licences. Despite the high number of applicants, the failure rate in urban areas is less than 5%, and just 2% in rural areas. Authorities aim to increase the failure rate to 25-30%, ensuring that only skilled drivers are licensed.

• The traditional manual test, which involves an applicant driving a vehicle for 50 to 100 metres and reversing in a straight line, will be replaced by computerised test tracks.

• Sensors will be installed at curves along the track, while CCTV cameras and overhead cameras inside the vehicle will monitor the applicant’s driving performance in real-time.

• The entire test will be driver-alone, removing human influence.

The primary motivations behind this change is to reduce corruption and malpractices associated with the manual testing process. With automated testing, the integrity of the test will be enhanced.

Apart from the new driving test tracks, authorities will also be setting up 40 Automated Test Stations (ATS) to check the fitness of vehicles. Work on 21 ATS stations will begin shortly, including RTOs in Mumbai. The cost of the project is ₹400 crore, with Rosmerta Technologies overseeing operation of these stations over the next five years.