Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday launched a scheme, under which smart card-based driving licences having biometric thumb impression and digital signatures would be issued to the applicants, at the regional transport office in Lucknow.

"It will be much more convenient for people to avail a driving license now," Yadav told reporters.

He said the applicant will have to appear at the transport office to register his photograph, signature and thumb impression, adding that the provided information can't be manipulated later under this scheme.

This was the 10th RTO office where the scheme has been introduced. The other offices are Agra, Allahabad, Kanpur, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Jhansi, Aligarh and Barabanki, an official spokesman said.

The spokesman said that by the end of April, the process of issuing smart card driving licences would start in all transport offices in the state.