The Indian government has announced plans to replace all the country’s current driving licences with contactless cards that traffic officers will be able to read using NFC-enabled handheld devices.

The new driving licences will look the same wherever they are issued, in contrast to the widely differing documents currently issued by the 1,100 Road Transport Offices across the country at present.

They will feature both contact and contactless interfaces, as well as a QR code, giving access to data such as validity dates, vehicle categories covered, the holder’s blood group and organ donation consent, The Times of India reports.

Traffic officers will be able to access data from the licences with hand held devices using methods including keying in an identification number, reading with NFC, scanning the QR code or inserting the card into a contact reader.

The country will also start replacing existing vehicle registration documents with the new contactless cards at the same time.

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