DVLA Joins Paperless Regime

Millions of Ghanaians could breathe a sigh of relief as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) scraps its old-fashioned paper system and introduces a paperless regime with a new smart driver’s license.

According to the Director for Driver Training, Testing and Licensing (DTTL), Mr. Cheyuo Wienaa Musah, this step will address the difficulties that the authority has faced over the years with regards the faking of driver’s licence.

He said the faking of licence by “Goro boys” has had “some debilitating consequences on both the authority and the nation as a whole,” but this time around, it would be “more difficult to clone and could be put into to variety of use.”

Mr Musah made this stunning revelation at media briefing in Accra on Tuesday.

Paperless system

As DVLA does a complete overhauling of its current faulty system, it embraces a more secured system which will see to it that registration for a licence is done online and data is transferred directly to the authority’s database.

Explaining how the new system would work, the Deputy Director, DTTL, Mr Kafui Semevo, said they used to transfer data using pen drives thus making information transfer unsafe.

 

He said the new management will create a strong interface with the computer base system so much that it is only those who have attended the exams and passed that will have their data transferred to the next stage for licence to be issued.

“It will afford us easy connectivity with our office across the country as well as other national data bases like the National Identification Authority (NIA), Judicial Service and the Police.

“This time there will be no need looking through books to retrieve information. That in itself will reduce the turnaround time for our service…you no longer have to wait longer for a service to be provided,” Mr Semevo added.

The Smart Drivers Licence

The soon to be launched driver’s licences come with special features that will enhance road worthiness.

Aside it coming with a contactless chip which will promote good storage of the driver’s bio-data and personal information, there are special fields which indicates clearly whether a driver should drive an automatic vehicle only and persons who should drive with the aid of spectacles.

New Vehicle Registration Smart Card

According to the Director, DTTL, “this smart card was borne out of the important need to have a portable device that would store all pieces of information that were originally stored on the paper vehicle Registration Certificate as well as Form A and Form C.”

He added that the information of the vehicle owners stores on the card will be would be better protected and make it easier for DVLA officers to retrieve vehicle documents.

The authorities revealed that the new license would roll out from November 7, 2017 and would take six years before its first renewal.

However, old licenses would still be valid until they expire and interested persons can choose to upgrade to the new licence at any time.

Cost build up for the smart card driver’s licences comes at a total cost of GH¢91.

Source: Grace Ablewor Sogbey/ [email protected]