Form 1A medical certificate for driving licence renewal in Kerala

Last updated: October 2026

If you are renewing a driving licence in Kerala and you are 40 years or older, or you hold a transport vehicle licence at any age, you need a medical certificate in Form 1A, signed and stamped by a registered medical practitioner. Only the doctor can complete the medical part. Under Rule 5(3) of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, Form 1A is valid for one year from the date it is issued. There is no government fee for Form 1A itself: the blank form is free on parivahan.gov.in, and what you pay is the doctor's consultation charge, not an official RTO fee.

Who needs Form 1A, and who does not

Your case	Form 1A needed?
Renewing a non-transport licence, aged 40 or older	Yes
Renewing, adding or applying for a transport vehicle licence, any age	Yes. Rule 5(1) requires Form 1A for a transport vehicle licence
Renewing a non-transport licence, under 40	Usually no. Form 1, the self-declaration of physical fitness, is the normal document
Sarathi shows a medical certificate step in your renewal application	Yes. Follow the portal instruction for your application, even if you expected Form 1 only

A non-transport licence is commonly issued up to age 40, so the first renewal after that point is often the first time a driver meets Form 1A. Our guide to Kerala driving licence renewal fees covers the renewal fee and grace period.

Form 1 and Form 1A are different documents

Point	Form 1	Form 1A
What it is	Your own declaration that you are physically fit	A medical certificate after examination
Who signs it	You	A registered medical practitioner, with seal and registration number
Normal use	Learner licence, non-transport licence and renewal applications where a medical certificate is not required	Transport licences, and renewals where a medical certificate is required, including at 40 and above

Uploading Form 1 where the portal asks for Form 1A does not work: Form 1 is what you declare, Form 1A is what a doctor found on examination. Keep both ready, because an application for a medical certificate must itself contain the Form 1 declaration.

Who can issue Form 1A in Kerala

The heading of the official Form 1A says it is to be filled in by a registered medical practitioner appointed for the purpose by the State Government, or a person authorised by the State Government, as referred to in sub-section (3) of Section 8 of the Motor Vehicles Act. Check three things before you rely on a certificate:

The doctor is a registered medical practitioner, and the certificate shows the registration number clearly.
The doctor has signed, put the seal or stamp, and dated the certificate.
The signature crosses the passport size photograph in the way the form requires: part on the photograph and part on the certificate, as the note on Form 1A itself states.

A certificate with no registration number, or signed by staff who are not the examining practitioner, is the kind that gets held up at verification. If in doubt, ask your RTO before you pay for the examination.

What the doctor actually checks

The questions are printed on Form 1A itself. The doctor certifies that they personally examined you, with special attention to distant vision, hearing, and the arms, legs, hands and joints. The form asks:

Whether you have a defect of vision, and if so whether it has been corrected by suitable spectacles.
Whether you can distinguish a motor car number plate with your eyesight at a distance of 25 metres in good daylight.
Whether you suffer from night blindness.
Whether you have a degree of deafness that would prevent you hearing ordinary sound signals.
Whether you have any defect, deformity or loss of a member that would interfere with your duties as a driver.
Your colour vision, tested with the standard Ishihara chart: the certificate records that you were not found to have severe or total colour blindness.

Reaction time, side vision and glare recovery are also examined for a licence to drive a goods carriage carrying dangerous or hazardous goods. Blood group and RH factor are optional entries, noted on the licence only if you ask. Take your glasses or lenses to the examination, because the form deals with corrected vision.

How long Form 1A is valid

Rule 5(3) of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules states the rule plainly: a medical certificate issued in Form 1A shall be valid for a period of one year from the date of its issue, and it must be accompanied by a passport size photograph of the applicant.

Many secondary guides describe Form 1A as valid for six months. That figure could not be verified in the text of Rule 5(3) in this run, which states one year. Get the certificate close to the date you file, upload it promptly, and treat your own Sarathi application as final. A fresh certificate is needed for a later renewal cycle in any case.

What Form 1A costs

Lead with the official position: Parivahan publishes no separate government fee for issuing a Form 1A medical certificate, and the blank form download is free. The renewal fee you pay on Sarathi is a separate charge for the licence renewal itself, covered on our driving licence renewal service page.

What you pay the doctor is a private consultation charge, not an RTO fee, and it varies by doctor and clinic (applicant-reported amounts vary widely, and none is an official rate). Ask before the examination and keep the receipt. Anyone quoting a fixed price as the official Form 1A fee is not quoting a Parivahan fee.

How to get Form 1A and use it for a Kerala renewal: step by step

Download blank Form 1A and Form 1 free from the downloadable forms section on parivahan.gov.in, or collect them at your RTO.
Fill in your own details on Form 1A: name, address, date of birth and identification marks, and complete the Form 1 self-declaration. Leave the medical questions and the certificate section for the doctor.
Fix a passport size photograph in the space on Form 1A.
Take the forms, your driving licence, an ID proof and your glasses or lenses, if you use them, to a registered medical practitioner.
Undergo the examination: vision including the number plate and colour vision checks, hearing, and the general check of limbs and joints described above.
Check the finished certificate before you leave: your name and date of birth match your licence, the doctor has signed over the photograph, and the seal, registration number and date are all legible and present.
Continue your renewal on sarathi.parivahan.gov.in: select Kerala, open the renewal service, enter your licence number and date of birth, and upload the signed Form 1A in the medical certificate slot.
Pay the renewal fee shown on the portal, save the acknowledgement, and keep the original Form 1A in case the RTO asks to see it.

Common reasons a Form 1A causes a delay

Name or date of birth on the certificate does not match the licence record.
Doctor's registration number, seal or date is missing or unreadable.
Signature does not cross the photograph as the form requires.
The medical section was filled in by the applicant instead of the doctor.
The scan is blurred, cropped, or uploaded in the wrong document slot.
The certificate is old by the time the application is filed. File soon after it is issued.

FAQs

Do I need Form 1A if I am exactly 40?

Treat the answer as yes for a renewal at 40 or above, and follow the Sarathi screen for your application. The portal works from your date of birth, so if it opens a medical certificate step, Form 1A is the document it wants.

Can I fill in Form 1A myself and get it signed later?

Only your personal details. The medical questions, the fitness certificate and the signature are the doctor's part. A self-completed medical section is not a medical certificate.

Does wearing glasses mean I will fail?

No. Form 1A expressly asks whether a vision defect has been corrected by suitable spectacles. Take your glasses to the examination so the doctor can record your corrected vision.

Can I use the same Form 1A for an International Driving Permit application?

Do not assume so. An IDP is a separate service with its own document list: see our guide to the International Driving Permit from Kerala.

What if the doctor finds me not fit?

The form allows the doctor to certify you as not medically fit and to state the reasons. If your condition is treated or corrected later, apply again with a fresh examination rather than altering a signed certificate.

Is an eye certificate alone enough instead of Form 1A?

No. An eye certificate covers only one part of Form 1A, which also covers hearing, limbs and joints, colour vision and general fitness.

Fees and rules change without notice. Verify all fees and rules on parivahan.gov.in before applying, and treat the instructions and fee total on your own Sarathi renewal application as final.