Department Of Transport Aims To Upgrade Driver’s Licence To Digital Version

As most of the nation’s attention and bandwidth is taken up by COVID-19 and its associated effects, some parts of normal life are set to get a makeover.

Drivers licences, for example, would soon become more digital and mobile as the Department of Transport upgrades its ageing system.

The department briefed Parliament on its budget, strategic plan, and annual performance plan on Wednesday.

MPs were briefed by the Driving Licence Card Account (DLCA) trading entity on the progress with the proposed new card specifications and the acquisition of a new card production machine.

The modernisation of the driving licence system would enable the department to reduce the production turnaround from 12 days to seven days.

It would also introduce an electronic or mobile driving licence, which motorists would be able to call up on their phones.

Transport department director general Alec Moemi said they were also looking to create a platform for introducing an e-service.

“And we are also re-engineering the DLCA process flow to ensure automation at all levels and eliminate the manual processes, and to also eliminate the potential of fraud. We are also looking at the creation of a platform for introducing the e-service in this regard so that there is seamlessness communication of our machinery between the printing centre as well as the license testing centres in this regard,” he said.

The department said the new card project would be resuscitated in the 2020/21 financial year and it was expected that a new durable driving licence card with improved security features would be introduced by the end of 2022.

EWN