How I got my Learner's Driving Licence in Lucknow, India. Don't ask!!!

When I decided to get my driving licence in India

 So I finally decided to get my permanent driving licence in India. Since I hold two driving licence, one from Fiji Islands and the other from New Zealand, I decided to apply for a third one since my International driving permit allow me to drive a vehicle for a year in India. So I thought yeah, why not apply for one and work on it. Maybe one day I will buy a motorcycle or a car and I might need a driving licence. The other advantage is that I will also have an Indian identification card.

So I checked the Uttar Pradesh transportation website and found that foreigners  also can apply for a permanent driving licence. So I had to get the following documents:

·         Proof of Identification

·         Proof of Address

·         Application form

·         Medical Test

·         Right fee

So I got all my documentation. I got my passport as an ID proof, my registration with the foreign office as proof of address, download the application form and medical form. I filled everything and got everything in my bag for my quest to get my driving licence. My two other foreign friends did the same and together we decided to get our driving licence.

Day one

Balampur Hospital

We had to go to a government hospital to get our medical done. The authorities doesn’t allow medical certificates from private hospitals. We arrived 10am at the hospital. We paid 2 rupees [4 cents NZ] for an entrance sheet :). After been tossed around from counter to counter :(, we finally found out where to go and whom to see. When we arrived at the right office we were told that the person responsible is away and he will be in his office at 11am :(. So we had to wait and finally at 11.20am he arrived. He just looked at us, signed our entrance sheet and told us to get an eye test first. So off we went away trotting around the ward to find the eye specialist, but before that we had to pay for our eye test. There was a very long queue. My friend’s wife went to the side counter where to pay. They told her to join the line. She replied that it is a long line and we are in a hurry. The lady at the counter helped her and she paid for three of us :). If we speak softly and nicely to people, I am sure we will get a positive results. We told my friend’s wife, that her charm was the only reason we allowed her to come with us. She laughed. We paid only 68 rupees [$1.36 NZ] each for our eye examination. So now we rushed back to the doctor and discovered that the clinic will open at 2pm. So we waited, waited and waited and finally we went inside  1.45pm and gave our entrance sheet and receipt of payment to the examiner. We discovered many people were before us. We were timing on how long the doctor took to examine a person. We discovered an average of 30 seconds. :) So finally our turn came, we all passed with 6/6 score on both of our eyes :). So stoked that we were making a progress. Now we got our medical and now we made our way to the RTO [Regional Transport Office]. We were all hoping we will get it by today.

 

 

At the RTO, we were tossed from counter to counter and finally after three counters :(, one guy told us to go and see the boss. We got his name and made our way to his office. He was a nice man :). He told us that as foreigners can’t get an Indian licence, but my friend had a printed document from the website and gave it to him. He read it and admitted that this is the first time he came across a request for Indian driving licence from foreigners. He was very accommodating :) but my friend’s proof of address wasn’t sufficient in his understanding as proof of address. My friend had a rental agreement/contract with his landlord. So he had to get more evidence for his proof of residence. The RTO boss said to come back after 6 days next Monday at 10am in the morning for further inquires :(. We left the RTO office around 4.30pm but we decided that we will go back in two days instead of six.

Day 02

I left home at 10am. My friends picked me up we arrived at the RTO office around 10.30am. We got all our documents ready :). The RTO boss arrived 11.30am :( He went through our papers and told us we need to apply online :(. He told us to go outside, there are small kiosk who can help people with their online application. So we had no choice :( It was extremely hot that day, but we had to endure the heat for our application. We found like 7 kiosk but some were having problems with the server, while others with their printer :( It was frustrating but funny at the same time :0. One guy’s computer was working but his printer was not, other guy’s printer was working but the server was not working. How strange and weird is this? Why is had to happen to us :(. So finally after 2 hours of waiting, the server was finally running for one of the guys, so he filled our form and was able to print it :). We paid 130 rupees [$1.60] for his services :). So now we have all the papers. We went back to the RTO boss. We arrived at his office at 4pm. When we arrived he stood up and left :(. We asked his colleagues and they said he will come back soon. Well, he didn’t :(. We saw him outside the building at 5pm, but he was on his way home. He told us to come back tomorrow around 10am :(. Gosh, we were frustrated, but at the end we said to each other, hey, we are slowly overcoming the hurdles. We got those papers and tomorrow we should get our licence.

Even though we didn’t do any hard work, we were so exhausted. When I arrived home. I had my shower and I fell asleep.

Day 03

Come the day, come the hour. We were at the RTO office at 9.45am. We saw the Boss entered the building but went to another office so we sat in his office with his colleagues. His colleagues were feeling a bit ashamed because we had been waiting very long for our licence. The Boss comes into his office at 11.30am. He looked at our papers. When through page by page. Finally, he signed and accepted our application :). Now we had to go and get our biometric done. So that was another hour taken off our life :(. Now we had to go back to him. We were told we have to do a leaner’s test :(. Actually, we thought we would be exempted from this test since we already have a full licence and have been driving for the last 20 years. However, they said it is compulsory :(. We said this is fine, we will do it. So we got our exam papers but to our horror it was in Hindi :/. We asked for an English paper but they replied no, it is only in Hindi. Oh boy! we laughed at each other and they smiled too. It took me like an hour to finish 16 multiple questions. I thank God I passed 12/16 questions :). I made it. They said now it is done. We should get our learner’s licence in a week and after 30 days we have to do our driving test than we will get our permanent driving test. We left the RTO office at 4pm. We were so happy that we endured and persevered for a favourable outcome :). We spent three days running around for our licence and during those 3 days we spent 17 hours to make it happen.

At the end of the day, we were happy, so we decided to go back in September to get our full licence. I am glad that we didn’t gave up, instead we are grateful with one other that we were there to encourage and support each one. Our total cost for our learner’s licence was: 288 rupees [$5.67 NZ]. So blessed.