No Longer Need Physical Documents for Car Insurance

The Government of India and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) both have come out with a directive that will bring a smile to the faces of millions of people using their cars for the daily commute.

Technological advancements have achieved a new high in recent years. We can shop for most products, including financial and insurance products, right from the comfort of our homes or office.

We can buy insurance products like car insurance, term insurance, health insurance for family instantly online. But, when we are traveling in our car, we still need to ensure that we have a physical copy of essential documents like Vehicle Registration Certificate, Driving License, Pollution Under Control (PUC) Certificate, Car Insurance Certificate present on us.

When traffic officials ask us to present these, and we fail to so, we have to pay a hefty fine. The digital copies of these important papers were not accepted.

Well, this has changed now, the Ministry of Road Transportation and Highways has decided to make our lives much more comfortable. It has decided to lessen our burden of carrying all these documents with us at all times.

Let's see how you can finally say BYE-BYE to physical copies of these documents from your car.

Ministry of Road Transportation and Highways (MoRTH) Notification

To make the journey of people traveling by their vehicles leisurely, the Government of India has started the journey of digitizing essential documents like Driving License, Registration Certificate of Vehicle, and e-Challans from 1st October 2020 through its information technology portal.

The use of technology, digital services, and electronic monitoring devices will result in the proper enforcement of traffic rules.

The Ministry of Road Transportation and Highways in a statement said," Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has recently issued notifications regarding various amendments in Central Motor Vehicle Rules 1989 requiring the implementation of enforcement, Maintenance of Vehicular Documents and E-Challans through portal w.e.f 1.10.2020 for better monitoring and enforcement of MV Rules," After the Motor Vehicles Act, 2019, was passed and published on 9th August 2019, the government said, "The amendment inter-alia provides for the definition for Challan, Portal inserted as a requirement for providing the services through it and further the enforcement of electronic monitoring and enforcement."

Documents that have been validated through electronic means will not be asked to be presented in physical form by the traffic officials at the time of inspection. That also includes in it cases for an offense that necessitates seizure of any such documents.

The Portal will chronologically store details like if the driving license is disqualified or revoked or suspended will be recorded in the Portal.

These records will be updated regularly on the Portal, thereby helping in monitoring drivers' behavior on the road, the government announcement said.

The statement further added, "Further upon demanding or inspecting any documents, the date and time stamp of inspection and identity of the police officer in uniform or any other officer authorized by the State Government, shall be recorded on the Portal. This activity would help avoid unnecessary re-checking or inspection of vehicles and would further remove harassment to the drivers."

The government has also decided to procure handheld devices for traffic officials for allowing them to check all RTO related documents in the electronic format.

An important thing to remember here is that showing photographs of required documents on your mobile will not be accepted by the traffic officials. Papers that have been stored and downloaded from the mParivahan or Digi Locker app.

Permission to use Mobile Phones

The government has also provided permission to use handheld communication devices for navigation purposes only without disturbing drivers' focus. This means your co-passenger can check the route and guide you without worrying about getting into trouble with the traffic officials.

How to Do it?

You can now easily store your documents in the mParivahan or Digi Locker app. NIC has created the mParivahan application under the Digital India initiative.

These apps are available for both Android as well as Android devices. You can easily download this app from Google Play Store or Apple Store.

mParivahan App

mParivahan app is more useful for storing your RTO related documents like car insurance, driving license, a car registration certificate in the digital format. You can register on this app with a simple OTP.

Digi Locker

This app is linked to your aadhaar card, i.e., your UIDAI number. Mobil phones using both Android and iOS platforms can download this app from their respective app stores. Apart from RTO and Insurance related documents, you can also store other important documents like PAN Card, Aadhaar Card, other government-related documents. You can also digitally sign your documents, thereby completing the self-attestation facility.

Government Shield for Good Samaritans

To help victims of road accidents, the Government of India has made amendments to the motor vehicles act. The new amendment states that no police officer or any other person shall compel a 'Good Samaritan" to provide their personal details if they come to the rescue of a person involved in a road accident.

The amendment further states that no criminal or civil action will be taken against them if any injury or death occurs resulting from their negligence while providing emergency medical or non-medical help to the accident victims.

The rule also states that if a person wants to give evidence in such accident cases, then an affidavit filed by him/her shall be treated as a complete statement.

IRDAI Notification

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), in its circular to all the insurance companies doing General Insurance business, relaxed its norms and has asked them to do away with the physical documentation process.

This means Policies for car insurance, bike insurance, health insurance will be sold entirely online. The insurance buying process starting from filling the proposal form to the policy certificate will become digital. Insurance companies can now acquire electronic signatures of their new customers that the earlier requirement of physically signing an application for policies like car insurance, bike insurance, health insurance.

This makes the entire insurance buying process much more comfortable, simpler, transparent, and secure for all. It will also increase the penetration of insurance and cover the masses more effectively. The time taken for issuance of policy will again come down considerably.

Synopsis

With the government of India's determination to boost the digital progress of the nation and ease the life of the citizens, apps like mParivahan and Digi Locker can free you from the burden of carrying physical copies of RTO documents like Registration Certificate of Vehicle, Driving License, Car or Bike Insurance Copy. Thus, if you come across an inspection activity by traffic officials at a checkpoint, you can show them all the required documents instantly on your phone.

Credits - This article has been compiled from news inputs from News18.com, Times of India, thefederal.com,

No Longer Need Physical Documents of Car Insurance