Punjab driving licence: road test now due within 24 hours of the e-Sign test

Punjab Traffic Police changed the driving licence procedure on 17 September 2026. The change is about deadlines, not about the tests themselves, and missing one now wipes out work you have already done.

The instructions went from the Deputy Inspector General (Traffic) Punjab to district traffic officers across the province.

The new sequence

1. Pass the e-Sign test (the computerised traffic signs and rules paper).
2. Appear for the road test within 24 hours. If you do not, the e-Sign result expires and you start the whole process again.
3. Generate your PSID in the same 24-hour window. A Payment Slip ID that is not generated in time cancels both test results.
4. Pay the fee within 7 days of generating the PSID. If the PSID expires unpaid, both tests are cancelled again and you retake the e-Sign and the road test, once more inside 24 hours.

The centre that conducts your road test now also submits the regular licence application, so you are not sent to a separate office to collect it.

What actually changes for you

Under the old process people cleared the e-Sign paper and came back for the road test whenever it suited them, sometimes weeks later. That gap is gone.

In practice this means do not sit the e-Sign test on a day when you cannot return the next day. If you are travelling, working a shift you cannot move, or waiting on a medical certificate, book the e-Sign paper for a different day.

It also means carrying your CNIC and paperwork to the e-Sign test, because you may be doing everything in one visit.

The seven days is the part people will miss

The PSID payment window is the quietest trap in the new rules. A PSID is generated instantly, but many applicants pay at a bank counter rather than through an app, and a weekend plus a public holiday can eat most of seven days. Pay it the same week, through 1Link internet banking, a mobile wallet or any bank branch, and keep the receipt.

Fees and the rest of the process

The notification covers deadlines only. It does not change the licence fee, the medical requirement, the learner permit rule or the categories of licence. You still need a valid learner permit held for the required period before the regular licence test.

If you are budgeting for a first car alongside the licence, our car loan calculator and token tax calculator cover the two costs that surprise new drivers most, and the vehicle transfer fee calculator handles a used-car purchase.

This applies to Punjab. Sindh, KP, Balochistan and the Islamabad Capital Territory run their own licensing systems and have not announced the same change.