Parliament, DVLA to meet on smart licence

Parliament’s Roads and Transport Committee will invite the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA) to discuss the controversies arising from plans to introduce a new smart driving licence on 7 November 2017.

Drivers are livid about this new move because of low consultation and education.

The Ghana Drivers and Car Owners Association has vowed to strike on 6 November 2017 if the DVLA goes ahead with its plans to change the existing licence.

The drivers say the new licence will not only create severe inconveniences but also derail its members’ work. They argue that under the new module, drivers who present automatic vehicles to the DVLA during the acquisition of a licence shall not be permitted to drive any manual vehicle whereas the country’s road regulations have not made any specific biased guidelines in favour of the manual or automatic vehicles, an allegation the DVLA has refuted.

But Ranking Member on the Roads and Transport Committee of parliament Kwame Agbodza told Class News’ Parliamentary correspondent Ekow Annan that the committee will invite the DVLA over the matter.

“I had an off the record chat with my chairman this morning and he was also not fully briefed …so he has decided that we invite the DVLA to brief us so that we can all be on the same page. So, I’m hopeful that information went through to DVLA through the clerk’s office to invite them to come to parliament,” he stated.