Hundreds of vehicle owners across the state are in a tough situation as they are unable to get their driving licenses renewed due to non-availability of old records with the Department of Transportation.

Those most affected are people whose paper licenses were issued 15 to 20 years ago. When they approached district-level transport offices, they were told that in the absence of a paper record, licenses could not be renewed and upgraded to smart smart cards.

Divyanshu from Jalandhar, who regularly visits the local transport office, said his license data was not available on the department’s portal.

Officials said those who obtained their licenses before records were scanned were most affected.

Initially, the ministry announced that the renewal of these licenses would not be undertaken and that those affected would have to apply for a learner’s permit, which could then be converted into a permanent license according to the procedure.

They indicated that the renewal of licenses on paper had been interrupted due to lack of verification of the file and following complaints of abuse by unscrupulous elements.

Sources said the department has now initiated the process to develop a standard operating procedure, wherein the regional transport officer concerned would verify the paper record, before authorizing the conversion to a smart license. For this, presence of the file with the respective RTOs was mandatory, said a senior government official.

After checking the old paper file, their data must be added to the portal.

It has also been difficult for those who have migrated to other states and applied for renewal of their documents. The ministry had also written to transport authorities of other states not to renew their license without verifying the record on the interstate portal.

The sources said the issue of paper registration documents was another area that needed to be addressed. Transport Minister Laljit Bhullar said he would resolve the issue at the earliest. A senior government official confirmed that the case to open a one-stop shop for such license holders to upgrade to chip-enabled cards was in the final stages of discussions and was expected to be approved soon.