New Delhi, Oct 10 (IANS): What happens if you are travelling abroad and your international driving license expires? You will be inconvenienced. But not anymore. The Centre has issued a draft notification which will allow issuance of International Driving Permit (IDP) for citizens whose IDP has expired while they are abroad.

"It has come to notice that in certain cases for citizens who are travelling abroad and in a foreign country, the International Driving Permit gets expired and there is no mechanism for its renewal while abroad. The proposal is to amend the CMVR 1989 to facilitate such citizens. The citizens can apply through the Indian Embassy / Mission Abroad portals and the applications would then move to the VAHAN for being considered by the respective RTOs," the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways said in a statement.

Further the proposal also includes removal of the conditions of a medical certificate and a valid visa at the time of making the request for the IDP in the Country as the citizen who has a valid driving licence there should not be a requirement for another medical certificate.

"Further, there are certain countries where the visa is on arrival and in such cases the visa was not available when applying for the IDP in India before travel," the ministry added. These proposals are expected to make the process easier.

However, it is a draft notification which is dated October 7 and comments and suggestions are being sought for the same as it would require an amendment to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.