SCRAPPING of the ‘paper’ driving licence can pose operating headaches for small businesses with a compact pool of company cars.
So the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) has published a list of the top ten things they need to know and act on for the new regulations due on 8 June:
- All business car managers should start planning now for any potential impact the paper counterpart abolition will have on the way they handle driver data.
- The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is abolishing the paper counterpart that accompanies the current driving licence photocard but not the old-style paper licences issued before 1998. These are still valid but will no longer be legally accepted as having an up-to-date record of a driver’s endorsements, penalty points or disqualifications.
- The driver record held centrally by the DVLA will be the only legal source of the driver’s licensing history, penalty points, endorsement and disqualification details.
- From June, managers of company cars will have three options for checking a driver’s details:
- They can call the DVLA’s premium rate telephone service. This costs 51p per minute and the driver must be present.
- They can ask drivers to provide a printed copy of their licence details using the DVLA’s new Share My Driving Licence (SMDL) service, which is accessible via the gov.uk digital government services portal. The SMDL service is free and the details can be separately verified online by using a one-time-only DVLA access code supplied by the driver.
- They can use an accredited driving licence verification service provider.
- For auditing or compliance purposes, the telephone service does not provide managers with an authenticated record of the date and time that the driving licence check was made.
- Handling driver information brings responsibilities under data protection legislation. SMEs with company cars need to consider how they manage, record and keep driver data, and can obtain advice from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk). Alternatively, they can use an accredited driver licence checking service provider, who will ensure that driver details are stored and handled in a legal and compliant manner.
