Hyderabad: Telangana may soon require applicants to complete an online road safety course before they can book a slot for their permanent driving licence test.
The Transport department is currently conducting a pilot programme within the Kukatpally Regional Transport Office (RTO) limits. Around 1,200 applicants have reportedly enrolled in the programme, with nearly 960 completing the course.
Officials are considering extending the initiative across Telangana. If implemented statewide, the State would become the first in India to make an online road safety course compulsory for applicants seeking a permanent driving licence, according to officials involved in the programme.
Six-Module Online Course
Under the proposed system, applicants who obtain a learner's licence would have to complete a 2.5-hour online course consisting of six modules. Each module is expected to take around 25 minutes.
The course contains more than 120 videos covering road safety regulations, defensive driving, hazard perception and responsible road behaviour.
After completing the modules, applicants would have to take a 20-mark assessment. A minimum score of 15 marks would be required to become eligible to book the driving test.
Applicants who fail to achieve the required score would have to complete the course again before taking another assessment.
Facial Recognition to Verify Applicants
The digital platform has reportedly been designed to ensure that applicants complete the training themselves and do not skip lessons.
The course videos cannot reportedly be fast-forwarded or played at higher speeds. Facial recognition technology will also be used to verify the identity of the person undertaking the training.
The programme is expected to be available in Telugu, English, Hindi and Urdu. Applicants would be able to access the course using smartphones, tablets or laptops equipped with cameras.
Transport officials believe mandatory road safety training before the driving test could help improve awareness among new drivers and potentially address driver-related road crashes.
Around 60% of the content development cost was funded by UNICEF, while TG Online developed and maintains the digital platform.
The State government is expected to take a decision on expanding the pilot programme after assessing its implementation and results in Kukatpally.
