Motorists in the country will soon be able to carry digital versions of driving licence and vehicle registration certificates under the Narendra Modi-led government’s DigiLocker scheme, the Hindustan Times reported on Thursday. The Centre also plans to eventually integrate vehicle insurance and other related permits onto the platform, which provides online storage for documents and other official certificates, The Hindu reported.

"This is the first step towards making over 19 crore vehicle registration certificates and over 9 crore driving licences available electronically," said Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. "The system will not only eliminate corruption but is also a mega step towards realising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India drive." Union Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the scheme is a "big reform in pushing paperless governance" and will reduce "administrative overhead".

The announcement of the scheme comes after Gadkari in May said that at least 30% of licences (5.4 crore driving permits according to the Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry) in the country are fake. The programme is also the largest such integration of official documents since Modi announced the launch of the DigiLocker in July last year. The online storage platform currently has over 21 lakh registered users and 24 lakh uploaded documents.