The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has announced plans to introduce drivers licences on people’s smartphones by 2018.
As the newly published DVLA Business Plan 2017 to 2018 lays out, a test version of the scheme will be introduced by September this year, with a full service launched between March and April 2018.
The Business Plan states: “During 2017-18 we will be developing a quick, easy and secure service to allow customers to view a representation of their driving licence on their smartphone. “
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Rather than replacing existing plastic licences, the new system will exist alongside the current method of licence cards.
It follows DVLA chief executive, Oliver Morley, tweeting about a prototype for the scheme back in May 2016, along with a photo of an iPhone showing the digital licence on the Apple Pay app.
https://twitter.com/statuses/731110689939587072
Elaborating on the project, the Business plan goes on to explain: “The driver will be in control of their data, and this can be used to share and validate driver information with trusted third parties through a secure website.
“This service will not replace the full driving licence. The digital licence service will only be available to driving licence holders who have authenticated themselves on gov.uk through the existing driving licence service.
“This service will be available 24/7, wherever the driver has a web connection. We will develop a private beta service by September 2017.”
More details should be forthcoming in the near future, so stay tuned for more.
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Let us know what you think of the plans in the comments.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
