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DVLA abandons electronic licence check plan

Date: 19 May 2009

BusinessCar's investigation highlighted huge Government failings to meet its own recommendations

A simple, fast, method of checking driving licences online with the DVLA has been shelved because of spending cuts by the government agency.

The DVLA was planning to have an electronic licence checking system running by 2010, but these plans have now not go ahead.

"The introduction of the online Driver Licence Check service has been postponed but the Agency continues to operate a range of alternative products for the checking of driver entitlement through telephone, paper and electronic channels," confirmed a DVLA spokesman.

"DVLA takes its responsibility as a custodian of the public purse seriously and has had to reduce expenditure by reprioritising its development plans to focus on business critical initiatives. As a result a number of initiatives have had to be postponed."

Commenting on the cutbacks a BVRLA spokesman said: "More than a million of these checks are made each year via phone, mail or fax. They are made by rental companies, insurance firms and employers looking to check driving licence information - whether a driver is banned from driving, for example. The ability to check this information is essential when customers or employees cannot provide the paper counterpart with their photo card driving licence - one in four rental customers are unable to produce a counterpart."

The BVRLA estimated an electronic system could have saved the DVLA up to £5.5m each year.

The current DVLA system is only available during office hours and in most cases only gives verbal confirmation of driver entitlement. Introducing an online system would have given immediate, secure, 24/7 access to the details, including the photograph and signature.



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