MoRTH's 16 October draft raises the learner licence pass mark to 75 percent and sets a 30 minute tutorial

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways notified draft amendments to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 on 16 October 2026, and the notification was published in the Gazette of India on 21 October. The headline change for anyone applying for a learner licence is the pass mark. It goes up from 60 percent to 75 percent.

The rest of the process gets re-timed. An applicant has to finish an online safe driving tutorial that must run for at least 30 minutes, covering road signs, traffic rules and a rider's duties after a crash. The window to complete that tutorial goes from 7 days to 15 days. After finishing it, the applicant has 7 days to sit the test. The draft also proposes a laminated or PVC card with separate formats and background colours for Indian and foreign nationals, a QR code readable zone carrying nationality, organ donor status, medical conditions and an emergency contact, and the removal of the ₹200 fee for name and particulars changes. Objections and suggestions are open for 30 days from the date copies of the notification are available to the public.

A harder quiz is still a quiz

This matters because it is the only formal training touchpoint most Indian riders ever get. A 30 minute video and a 75 percent score is a better filter than a 60 percent score. It is not instruction. The reported proposals deal with the tutorial, the test score, the licence card and the paperwork. None of it puts a rider on a loose surface, teaches a controlled rear wheel slide, or shows what a loaded adventure bike does under hard braking on gravel.

So the first safety story for anyone planning Spiti, Sach Pass or a monsoon coastal run is still the same one. You buy that training yourself.

What the private courses actually cover

BigRock DirtPark in Kolar, Karnataka publishes its full menu with prices. Bedrock, the foundation off-road course for adults and children, is ₹5,000 for 3 hours. Slide School Level 1 is ₹3,500 and Level 2, described as advanced flat track, is ₹4,500. Enduro Level 1 is ₹5,500 and Level 2 is ₹7,150. The two courses aimed squarely at ADV riders, Adventure Level 1 and Level 2, are 6 hour sessions at ₹11,000 and ₹12,500. She Rides, a 3 hour programme for women riders, is listed at ₹2,500 against a regular ₹5,000. Private one-on-one coaching starts at ₹7,000.

KTM India's Adventure Academy sits at the other end of the price scale and the other end of the depth scale. It is a closed circuit off-road programme open only to KTM 250 Adventure and 390 Adventure owners, with Bronze as a half day at ₹1,000 and Silver as a full day at ₹2,000, up to 20 riders a batch. The drills are named on the site: slow poke, slalom, cone attack, hill hacks and maze turns. That is clutch and throttle control, balance at walking pace and turning in a tight space. Useful, and far cheaper than a dropped bike in a river crossing, but a half day with 19 other riders is an introduction, not a graded course.

The honest read is that the government is improving the gate, not the garage. If the 75 percent rule goes through, it will send slightly better informed riders onto the road. The gravel, the sand and the 12 percent climb out of a nallah are still the private schools' syllabus, and at ₹1,000 to ₹12,500 a session, still worth booking before the trip rather than after the crash.

Sources

• MoRTH proposes stricter learner's licence norms with 75 percent pass mark, Autocar India
• MoRTH draft: new licence colours, higher test score, fewer documents, DY365
• Govt proposes to raise driving tutorial pass marks to 75 pc, ETV Bharat
• BigRock DirtPark programmes and prices
• KTM Adventure Academy, KTM India Pro Experience