How to Download Driving License (DL) Online: 3 Ways [2021]

Vivek Chaudhary is an experienced tech blogger who has been writing about technology for more than ten years. He has written over 1500 articles covering various tech topics.

Driving license is one of the most important documents which you need to carry when you are driving any vehicle. You will be asked to show your DL along with other documents such as registration certificate (RC), insurance papers, and pollution certificate (PUC) at checking by traffic cop. If you failed to show your driving license, you can be fined up to Rs 5000.

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It is not possible to carry your driving license with you all the time. Does it ever happened that you forget to take your DL and unluckily you are stopped for documents checking on the same day? If this hasn’t happened yet, it can happen any day. To avoid any unnecessary fine, you should always carry at least digital copy of your driving license and other documents on your smartphone.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued an advisory to all states and police departments to consider digital documents valid for verification purpose. There are various government official apps like mParivahan and DigiLocker which allows you to download virtual DL and RC on your iPhone or Android device. In this tutorial, we will discuss about driving license particularly. So without wasting any time, let’s get started!

Table of Contents

Download virtual driving license (DL) on mParivahan app

mParivahan is an app developed by NIC which provides users access to various information, services, and utility related to the transport sector. The app allows you to check complete information of any vehicle such as owner name, registration date, vehicle age, insurance validity, fitness validity, etc. Apart from that, you can also save a virtual/digital copy of your DL and RC in this app which is equally valid as the physical one. Here’s a step-by-step guide for that –

1. First of all, install the mParivahan app on your iPhone or Android device. You can download it from the Play Store or App Store.
2. Open the mParivahan app and choose your language. There are various languages available for all states.
3. Once you are in the dashboard, choose DL at the top and then enter your driving license number.
4. Login to your account. If you don’t have account on mParivahan, then create a new one. Enter your mobile number, accept the terms & conditions, and finally tap the Submit button to continue. You will receive an OTP (one time password) on the phone number you have entered. Type that OTP to complete your verification. After that, enter your name and sign up.
5. Now search your DL number and once it is found, you will see all your driving license details.
6. To save your DL on mParivahan app, tap on Add to Dashboard for Virtual DL button.

This will add a digital copy of your driving license on mParivahan app. If you want to download it on your phone, just click on it to open and then tap the download icon at the bottom-right corner.

If you have just applied your driving license, you can use Parivahan online portal to know your DL status.

Download driving license (DL) PDF on DigiLocker

DigiLocker is another application developed by the government as an initiative under Digital India. It provides cloud based platform to save and verify your documents online as well as offline. So basically, it is a document wallet where you can store all your important documents and certificates including aadhaar card, driving license (DL), registration certificate (RC), insurance, etc. You can access DigiLocker on any device by using the app or directly from its website. Here’s how you can download your driving license on your DigiLocker account –

1. Download and install the DigiLocker app on your phone from Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
2. Open the DigiLocked app once it is installed successfully.
3. Go to Account section and sign in to your DigiLocker app. If you don’t have any account, create a new one. You will be asked to provide some basic information such as name, DOB, gender, phone number, 6-digit security PIN, email ID, and aadhaar number.
4. Once you have logged in to your account, go to Browse tab and open Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. After that, choose Driving License.

Video tutorial: Download DL from DigiLocker website

You can also use DigiLocker official website to download your driving license online with installing any app on your phone. This detailed video shows how to fetch issued documents on DigiLocker –

Download digital driving license (DL) on UMANG app

The last option is to use UMANG app. UMANG (short for Unified mobile application for New-age Governance) is a mobile application made for providing you access to all central and state government services. UMANG has an option to download and store your driving license. This services is linked with the DigiLocker, so first you need to add your DL in DigiLocker and then UMANG will be able to fetch it from there. This guide shows you how to do that –

1. Install the UMANG app on your smartphone. It’s available on Play Store (Android) and App Store (iPhone/iOS).
2. Open the app and complete the setup process. You will be asked to allow location and notifications access. After that, choose your language and tick mark the button to agree to the terms and conditions.
3. Login to your UMANG account or register if you are new. You can register with your phone number and OTP verification.
4. Under Categories, choose Transport and then click Parivahan Sewa – Sarathi option.
5. Now tap “View Driving License for DigiLocker”. Next, you will be asked to login to your DigiLocker account. Once you have logged in, UMANG will ask you to access your DigiLocker. Click Allow to continue.
6. After this, UMANG will fetch your driving license. Tap the Download button and then click Open to view your virtual DL. You can also save it as PDF file on your phone.

Frequently asked questions about virtual DL

You might have some questions cooking in your mind regarding this virtual driving license. Before you ask them in the comments, we have already compiled and answered some frequently asked questions about this topic below –

Is virtual driving license (DL) valid in India?

Yes, the virtual driving license is as valid as the physical DL. You can show it in DigiLocker or mParivahan app when asked by traffic cop to check your documents. The digital soft copy of the driving license and registration certificate (RC) are now legally recognised as per the Information Technology Act, 2000. This rule applies across all states of India including Delhi also. So if you are not carrying the physical copy of your driving license, don’t get worried as you can show it in your phone digitally.

Do you still need to carry your driving license?

There is no need to carry physical document if you have saved your driving license and registration certificate (RC) in the digital form on mParivahan or DigiLocker app. However, we still recommend you to carry it as a backup. Now let’s suppose you deleted the DigiLocker/mParivahan app from your phone and now you don’t have any internet connection, in such case you can use your physical DL when asked to show your documents by police. Sometimes these app don’t work due to technical glitches, so it is always safe to carry original DL and RC with you.

Can you show clicked/scanned photo of your DL?

The clicked or scanned photo of your DL isn’t considered valid, however, some traffic cops can use it to verify your documents. If you want to use the digital copy of your driving license, then always prefer downloading it on DigiLocker or mParivahan app instead of taking a picture of your physical DL. These applications are valid as your documents are downloaded from the government servers online. A clicked or scanned picture of documents can be morphed that is why it isn’t acceptable.

Which app is best for downloading driving license?

We have shared three applications with you to download your driving license (DL) online on your smartphone. You can use any of these applications based on your choice. If you want our recommendation, then we will recommend you to use mParivahan app as it is specifically made for this purpose to store your driving license and registration certificate. This application has a very simple user interface and it takes very less storage space. However, if you want to save more documents such as aadhaar card, PAN card, insurance, etc., then DigiLocker is a better option.

So that’s how you can download a digital copy of your driving license on your iPhone or Android device. Thanks to the government and digitalisation which has made it possible to save your DL online. Let you know your views about this facility in the comments below. Have you ever faced any problem while showing your documents to traffic cop digitally? Don’t forget to share this post with friends so they can also take advantage of this useful guide. You can also check out more interesting articles on our website.

Vivek Chaudhary

Tech Writer & Founder • Vivek Chaudhary is an experienced tech blogger who has been writing about technology for more than ten years. He's written over 1500 articles covering various tech topics. Vivek is passionate about sharing his expertise to help others. Beyond the digital realm, he enjoys traveling and creating videos on YouTube. Feel free to contact here: vivek@geekinstructor.com