From April, you can give your mother’s name in driving licence in Delhi

NEW DELHI: From next month, those applying for a permanent driving licence in Delhi would be able to have their mother’s name on the licence instead of their father’s name, if they wish. At present, applicants have to provide their father’s or husband’s name while applying for a licence. In what it terms as a progressive step, Delhi government’s transport department would now allow applicants to provide their mother’s name instead.

“This is a big step in bringing gender equality at the transport department and we plan to bring in this change by April,” said a senior transport department official. “This would be a big help specifically for those who for some reason do not want to provide their father’s name or have a single parent,” he said. “We are modifying our software to bring in these changes. We believe the software tweaks should be ready this week,” the official said.

The modification would indeed be a big change as the permanent driving licence also acts as an important identity proof. There are 13 regional transport offices (RTOs) in Delhi and approximately 1,600 permanent driving licences are issued in the capital every working day. About four lakh licences are issued in a year and almost one lakh applications are rejected on different grounds.


“The capital would be the first state to issue licences with the mother’s name,” the official said.

The decision is in the same direction in which a host of changes were brought in during 2016 while applying for a passport. In the same year, the Delhi high court had held that in certain cases, mother's name is sufficient for a child to apply for a passport, especially because a single woman can be a natural guardian as well as a parent.