AP Vahana Mitra Scheme (Auto Driver Sevalo)

What is the AP Vahana Mitra Scheme?

AP Vahana Mitra Scheme is a yearly cash grant of the Transport Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh, for drivers who own and drive their own auto-rickshaw, taxi or maxi cab. Vahana mitra means "friend of the vehicle" in Telugu, and the scheme is searched for as "Vahana Mitra", "YSR Vahana Mitra" and, in its current form, as Auto Driver Sevalo.

The scheme was launched in October 2019 and paid Rs 10,000 a year to each eligible driver-owner. It covered roughly 4 lakh drivers on an annual budget of about Rs 400 crore, according to the Transport Department's published scheme details. After the change of government in June 2024, payments under the YSR Vahana Mitra name stopped, and the scheme was relaunched in October 2025 as Auto Driver Sevalo at an increased rate of Rs 15,000 a year, with the amount transferred to more than 2.9 lakh auto drivers.

Why the scheme exists

An auto-rickshaw driver who owns the vehicle carries a set of fixed annual costs that do not vary with how good the year was: the insurance premium, the fitness certificate, the permit renewal, and at least one round of tyres and servicing. These fall due as lump sums. Drivers with no savings buffer routinely borrow at daily-interest rates to clear them, or let the insurance and fitness lapse and then face penalties. The grant is sized to cover roughly this fixed annual package, which is why it is framed around vehicle upkeep rather than as a general income transfer.

Main features

• A single annual payment per driver-owner, made by Direct Benefit Transfer.
• Covers auto-rickshaws, taxis and maxi cabs that are self-owned and self-driven.
• The family, husband, wife and minor children; is treated as one unit, so one benefit is paid per family.
• Verification is done on the ground by village and ward volunteers under the District Collector and the transport commissioners, not by a desk scrutiny of uploaded papers.

Who is eligible for the AP Vahana Mitra Scheme?

You can be included if:

• You own and drive an auto-rickshaw, taxi or maxi cab, and the vehicle registration certificate is in your own name.
• You are a permanent resident of Andhra Pradesh.
• You hold a valid driving licence for the vehicle class you drive.
• You hold a white ration card, the state's marker for a Below Poverty Line household.
• You have an active bank account with no defaulting history against it.
• Your family has not already drawn the benefit through another member.

You cannot apply if:

• You do not own the vehicle you drive. A hired driver on someone else's auto is outside the scheme, which is written for owner-drivers.
• The vehicle is registered in another person's name. A spouse, parent or financier: even if you are the one who drives it every day.
• You are a fleet owner running several commercial vehicles. The scheme is not designed for a transport business.
• Your household does not hold a white ration card.
• Another member of your family has already received the grant for the year.
• You are not a resident of Andhra Pradesh, even if you drive in the state.

The single condition that decides most cases is the registration certificate. If the RC is not in your name, no amount of documentation about your driving will bring the claim inside the scheme. Transferring the RC into your own name is the step that makes you eligible for the next round.

What documents are required for the AP Vahana Mitra Scheme?

Keep the RC, licence, Aadhaar and bank passbook in the same name spelling. Mismatches across these four documents are the reason most sanctioned payments fail to reach the driver.

How to apply for the AP Vahana Mitra Scheme

1. Visit your Grama or Ward Sachivalayam. The village or ward secretariat for your area, and ask the Welfare Assistant to record your claim under the auto driver grant.
2. Give your details to the village or ward volunteer assigned to your household. The volunteer verifies on the ground that you own the vehicle and drive it yourself.
3. Submit the documents; RC, driving licence, Aadhaar, white ration card, residence proof and bank passbook, with one photocopy set.
4. Let the Transport Department verify the vehicle. The RC and permit details are checked against the department's own vehicle records; the District Collector and transport commissioners sign off on the district list.
5. Collect the acknowledgement and note the reference number, which is what you quote for any later status query.
6. Check the provisional beneficiary list displayed at the secretariat and object immediately if your name is missing, because corrections after the list is finalised are much harder.
7. Watch your bank account for the DBT credit when the annual round is released.

How much does the scheme pay and when?

The grant has been paid at two rates:

Payment is made once a year in a single Direct Benefit Transfer credit, released in a state-wide round rather than continuously through the year. There is no requirement to produce bills or receipts for how the money was spent.

Drivers who received Rs 10,000 in earlier years and Rs 15,000 later are looking at the same entitlement at a revised rate, not at two separate schemes running side by side.

How to check your AP Vahana Mitra status

1. Ask at your Grama or Ward Sachivalayam, which holds the beneficiary register and can see why a claim was not carried forward.
2. Ask your village or ward volunteer, who did the original household verification.
3. Call 1902, the state's Sachivalayam helpline, with your Aadhaar number and the acknowledgement reference.
4. Check your bank passbook or SMS alerts for the DBT credit; no separate sanction letter is sent to the driver.
5. Ask at the district Transport Department office where the issue is with the vehicle record — RC name, permit or fitness, rather than with the household record.

Why AP Vahana Mitra claims get rejected

• RC not in the applicant's name: by far the most common reason.
• No white ration card, or a card indicating a household above the BPL threshold.
• Vehicle is not a covered class, the scheme covers auto-rickshaws, taxis and maxi cabs, not goods vehicles or private cars.
• Driving licence expired or not valid for the transport class.
• More than one vehicle registered to the household, indicating a fleet rather than an owner-driver.
• Duplicate claim within the family, which is removed under the one-per-family rule.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded or dormant, which holds the DBT even after approval.

The document-related failures are all correctable. Renew the licence, transfer the RC, or re-seed the bank account, then take the corrected papers back to the Sachivalayam and ask for the claim to be re-verified in the next round.

Help and grievance redressal

• Sachivalayam helpline: 1902, for application, verification and payment queries on state welfare schemes.
• Grama or Ward Sachivalayam. The first place to raise a missing name, because the household verification record lives there.
• District Transport Officer (DTO), for anything touching the RC, permit, fitness certificate or licence that is blocking the claim.
• District Collector's office. The escalation for a district beneficiary list that has excluded an eligible driver.

Applying is free. No union, association official, agent or volunteer may charge a fee for adding your name to the beneficiary list, and no government officer will ask you for an OTP or for your bank password.