The central government has extended the validity of expiring driving licenses & motor vehicle documents till December 31, reports CNBC. Ahead of this, the government extended the validity of motor vehicle documents until September 30, 2020. This includes driving license and vehicle fitness certificate in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Centre had earlier, through an advisory on March 30, announced an extension of the validity of fitness certificate, permit (all types), driving license, registration, or any other concerned document till June 30.

The ministry had earlier extended the validity of the documents till September 30. “Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has decided to extend the validity of Fitness, Permits, Licenses, Registration or other documents under Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 till the 30th of December 2020,” said the statement.

MoRTH said the decision was taken because of the existing conditions in the country to prevent the spread of Covid-19. This step of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is likely to help out the citizens in availing transport-related services, the ministry said.

“Taking into consideration the situation still continuing due to conditions for prevention of the spread of COVID-19 across the country, it has further advised that the validity of all of the above-referred documents whose extension of validity could or not likely be granted due to lock-down and which had expired since 1st of Feb, 2020 or would expire by 31st Dec 2020, the same may be treated to be valid till 31st of December 2020. Enforcement authorities have been advised to treat such documents valid till 31st of December 2020,” the ministry further said.

While all vehicle documents, including vehicle insurance policies, will now remain valid until at least 31 December, we recommend that you renew your own-damage insurance policy nonetheless. This is because the extension applies to only those documents that are made mandatory by the government. In the case of motor insurance policy, vehicle owners must have third-party insurance while the own-damage cover is optional. So, if the motor insurance expires, then the vehicle owners may become liable to pay a late fee or fine along with an inspection of the vehicle.