International Driving Permit — delays and the RTI route

The IDP is the document that lets an Indian licence drive abroad in the countries party to the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic — most destinations Indians drive in. Two facts sink most applications: the RTO will not issue an IDP on a licence that expires within the permit's one-year validity, and an IDP is always carried with the Indian licence, never instead of it.

1. **Online first.** On Sarathi, the IDP service sits under driving-licence services: fill Form 4A, upload the licence, passport and visa, pay the fee, and book the RTO visit the portal asks for.
2. **Verify at the RTO** with originals; the booklet (Form 6A) issues from there.
3. **Check the expiry arithmetic** — licence validity must outrun the IDP's one-year term; renew the licence first if it does not.
4. **No agents.** The portal fee is the fee; the "urgent IDP in two days" counter charges for what the RTO must do anyway on record.

The transport department is a public authority, and every stage of an IDP application is docketed in Sarathi:

1. The status of my International Driving Permit application
   no. _____ dated _____ filed on the Sarathi portal.
2. The date of my RTO visit verification and the officer who
   recorded it.
3. The reasons for delay beyond the prescribed disposal timeline,
   with the name and designation of the officer holding the file.
4. A copy of the noting or file movement for the past 30 days.
5. The number of IDP applications disposed by this RTO in the last
   3 months, and the average disposal time.

Real example. Kashvi Pathak's IDP sat “under process” three weeks past her flight date on a fully verified application. The RTI's question 3 produced a noting that the signatory had been on leave and no delegation had been recorded — the file was cleared the same week under the officiating authority the reply named.

RTOs return IDP applications on a short list of recurring grounds, each fixable:

• Licence expiring within the year — the IDP cannot outrun it; renew the licence first and re-apply.
• Address mismatch between the licence and the passport — align one to the other before filing.
• Visa or travel dates unclear — the IDP is travel-linked; apply once the trip is fixed.
• Long-lapsed applications — a Sarathi application left unattended eventually closes; re-file and quote the old number.

Where the RTO refuses on no stated ground, the State Transport Commissioner's grievance cell is the departmental escalation, and the RTI above — filed to the transport department's CPIO — usually produces the unstated ground in writing first.

The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 read with the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 — the application is Form 4A and the permit is issued as Form 6A.

One year from issue or until the Indian licence expires, whichever is earlier; it cannot be renewed — apply afresh for each trip year.

It works in countries party to the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic; some countries ask for a local permit or a translation instead — check the destination's rules before travel.

No — the IDP is issued against the licence, which stays with you and must be carried with the IDP abroad.

The document set asks for the passport and the visa for the country of travel; apply once travel is fixed.

• How to apply for an IDP — the full guide
• Driving licence status — delays and RTI
• Vehicle RC transfer delays
• The RTI Playbook book

• Form 4A — application for an International Driving Permit, Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989
• Ministry of Road Transport and Highways — Sarathi services

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026. Form 4A, Form 6A, the one-year validity and the portal fee verified this run against the Parivahan portal. The old page cited a Motor Vehicles Act section number that does not correspond to any IDP provision; the citation has been removed and replaced with the correct CMVR forms.