Expanding the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority’s online services could save fleet operators £22m a year, according to the BVRLA’s legal and policy director Jay Palmer.
Speaking to the House of Commons Transport Select Committee as part of the regular contact the leasing body has with Government, Palmer also suggested the Government could save £19m annually.
He singled out the unavailability of electronic notifications, limiting Vehicle Excise Duty to annual payments, and the current cheque-based VED refund process.
“BVRLA members currently make more than six million separate transactions and payments to the DVLA each year, but more than five million of these involve paper notifications,” he said.
“We believe these cost businesses £10m and the DVLA a further £7m each year. An online portal would be more accurate and efficient, saving both the Government and the private sector time and money.”
The BVRLA called for a system that could apply, pay and receive refunds for VED via a pre-paid account; register a vehicle and receive an electronic file of vehicle registration data; and notify DVLA of changes to tax classes, registered addresses and keepers
According to the BVRLA, the system would reduce data errors, assist with recalls, and be useful to both the DVLA and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.