Driving Without A License

While driving, it is mandatory to keep a copy of a valid Driving License with you at all times¹, and present it to a police officer on demand². Now, you can also carry an electronic copy of your driving license in the DigiLocker or mParivahan app³. If you hold a valid driving license but do not have it when an officer asks you to produce it, you may be punished with a fine between Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000⁴. You may alternatively produce it to the officer/authority who has asked you for it, within a stipulated time period, which varies across states⁵. 

 If your license has been submitted to or seized by, governmental authority or officer, then you must produce a receipt or any other form of acknowledgement, and produce the license within a stipulated time period that varies across states². 

If you drive a vehicle and you do not possess a driving license or have not attained the required age to drive it, then your vehicle can be seized and detained by a police officer⁶. Furthermore, you can be punished with a fine of Rs. 5,000 or with jail time of up to 3 months, or both⁷.

The applicable fine amount might vary across states. Given below are the fine amounts of different offences for two states.

1. Section 6(3),  Motor Vehicles (Driving) Regulations, 2017. [↩]
2. Section 130(1), The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. [↩] [↩]
3. Section 139, Central Motor Vehicles Rules,1989. [↩]
4. Section 177A, The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. [↩]
5. Section 130(4), The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. [↩]
6. Section 207(1), The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. [↩]
7. Section 181, The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. [↩]