VAHAN and SARATHI

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) facilitated the computerisation of over 1300 Road Transport Offices (RTOs) across the country through the VAHAN and SARATHI software. The RTOs issue the Registration Certificate (RC) of vehicles and the Driving License (DL) for people that are valid mandatory documents for any vehicle owner in India. 

The MoRTH entrusted the National Informatics Centre (NIC) for standardising and deploying two software, i.e. VAHAN for Vehicle Registration and SARATHI for Driving Licenses. These two applications conceptualised the functionalities mandated under the Central Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 and the State Motor Vehicle Rules with the feature of customisation in the primary product to suit the requirements of all states and UTs. They compile the data relating to the RC and DL of all the states in the National and State Registers.

VAHAN and SARATHI Application

The VAHAN and SARATHI is a process automation application for the RTOs. Initially, in 2002, it was initiated in some states in India. The VAHAN and SARATHI project got a considerable boost and became Pan-India in 2006. The Road Transport became a Mission Mode Project (MMP) in 2006 under the National eGovernance Program (NeGP), and the VAHAN and SARATHI became a part of the Road Transport MMP. 

The VAHAN and SARATH are currently installed as a distributed application in more than 1100 RTOs across 36 states and UTs. Though VAHAN and SARATHI are two applications, yet they are treated as one major application for RTO automation. The latest version, 4.0 of the VAHAN and SARATHI (VS 4.0), is a cloud application and the core engine behind the Parivahan Sewa Portal. The application VS 4.0 is customisable for all states/UTs.

The aim of launching VAHAN and SARATHI is to automate all RC, DC and related activities in the transport authorities by introducing smart card technology for creating State and National registers of RC/DL information and handling issues like the interstate transport vehicle movement. The citizens gain many benefits from the cloud version of the VS 4.0. They can avail of many services of their respective State Transport Departments from the Parivahan Sewa Portal.

Objective of VAHAN and SARATHI Application

The objective of the VAHAN and SARATHI applications are to provide:

• Better quality of the work environment of the RTOs
• Better services to the Transport Department and citizens
• Quick implementation of the government policies from time to time
• Better image of the government and departments
• Quick access of DL/Vehicle information to other government departments

Key Users of VAHAN and SARATHI Application

The key users of the VAHAN and SARATHI applications on the Parivahan Sewa Portal are

• Every state transport authorities
• Traders
• Government agencies
• Banks
• Citizens

The Parivahan Sewa Portal also implements the Central Motor Vehicle Acts and Rules and the State Taxation Acts and Rules.

Services provided by VAHAN and SARATHI Application

The VAHAN and SARATHI applications provide a wide range of services relating to vehicle registration, permit, taxation, fitness, motor driving schools, learner licence, driving license and allied processes. These consolidated services are provided through the VAHAN and SARATHI applications on the Parivahan Sewa Portal.

The following are the services provided on the Parivahan Sewa Portal:

• Information services such as:
  • Licence details
  • Vehicle details
  • Licensing information
  • Registration information
  • Permits
  • Acts, Rules and Policies
  • Manual
  • Fees and user charges
• Online services such as:
  • Vehicle-related services
  • Driving licence related service
  • Check post-tax
  • Fancy number booking
  • NR (National Register) services
  • Paid NR services
  • Homologation
  • National permit authorisation
  • AITP (All India Tourist Permit) authorisation
  • CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) maker
  • SLD (Speed Limiting Device) maker
  • Vehicle recall
  • Trade certificate
  • Vahan green sewa

Benefits of VAHAN and SARATHI Application

The citizens can apply online for the issuance of a new learner’s license, driving license, request for modifications in details, payment of the various taxes and fees, etc., on the Parivahan Sewa Portal, enabled through the VAHAN and SARATHI applications. This portal empowers the citizens as the information and services of every State Transport Department can be accessed online through the portal, eliminating the visit to the transport offices. The citizens save money and time by availing all the transport office services on the portal. 

The VAHAN and SARATHI application allows transporters to apply online for renewing the National Permit for Goods Vehicles on the Parivahan Sewa Portal. The transporters can pay the stipulated permit fees through the ePayment system on the portal and obtain the downloadable permit. This portal also helps the traffic officers to access information on vehicles immediately.