Smart card driving license

Few weeks back i finally got rid of my paper book driving license in favor of a smart card driving license (they started issuing this from june 2009 in bangalore RTO offices). I went to jayanagar 4th block RTO office which is in the BDA complex second floor. The following are the steps involved

1. Fill up Form-6.
2. If your address has changed attach an address proof. Telephone bill (even private one like airtel) should be fine. Same might be applicable with bank statements i think.
3. Attach a self addressed envelope with Rs.25/- stamp.
4. Attach your original driving license to the application.
5. Get it verified with the supervisor for Driving License section - he'll sign it in red-ink.
6. Pay the required fees. It is Rs.200/- for smart card license (151 for the govt and 49 for the computerized operations) and Rs.20/- for address change (if applicable).
7. Get it verified with Officer (a separate queue for driving license) - he'll sign it in green ink.
8. Go to the computer counter and get your photo taken by camera attached to the computer, sample signature. This is done against the sticker (which you would have got in your receipt when you paid the fees) with unique code for tracking.
9. Attach the receipts (both of them) to the application and submit it in the counter for Driving License. The person will ask you to write your name etc in a register and You'll get a hand-written acknowledgment with a tracking number.

Then you'll receive your driving license in couple of weeks by post.

Some interesting things which happened when i applied are

• The office did not have the form-6 and asked me to collect it from the xerox shop one floor below. That guy had bunch of the original forms (not even copies) and charged Rs.2/- for it. The form is not available online afaik.
  
• I did not know about the self addressed envelope and one senior citizen was selling them in the stairs leading to the office for Rs.35/- (10 more than the face value). Entrepreneurial :-). It saved me time for a trip to post office and i was glad to pay the extra.
  
• Absolutely no bribe involved and since i got the license thru mail no more interactions, thus minimal chance for asking/giving bribe.
• The office was overcrowded (i went on a saturday) and not very helpful. I ran around asking for information few times and finally figured out the above steps by trial and error.
  
• I spent lot of time in the queue for paying fees - it seems to move at snail-pace with only one cashier accepting fees and many people paying fees for multiple stuff (vehicle registration etc) - probably agents/brokers etc.
• My original paper license was issued by indiranagar office, but no issues whatsoever in getting the smart card license in jayanagar office. Even my address i'm not sure whether it falls under jayanagar office or some other RTO office - but i don't think that matters anymore with computerized systems. Nearest RTO office might do. RTO Office jurisdiction details are here.
  

Some key things to remember are

• Have copies of your original driving license made
  
• For address proof have copies and have alternates ready if you're not sure one will be acceptable
• Since you submit both the receipts for the fees paid (along with the sticker in it) it might be better to take a copy of it in the xerox shops below just for your reference. might come in handy in case of issues (i did not take them and thankfully i did not run into issues in getting my license, but one never knows).
  
• Go early (around 10 a.m) so that you can finish it by 12 or so after which the office will close (in saturday atleast).