Operators could see a reduction in the fees paid for digital tachograph cards later this year, as DVLA looks to return a £25m surplus.
Under the proposals a raft of fees would change. A first GB driving licence would fall from £50 to £43 for a paper application and to £34 for a digital application; those for renewals would fall from £20 to £17 (paper) or £14 (digital); and the cost of a driver or company digital tachograph card would fall from £38 to £32.
Applications for provisional and full vocational driving licences would remain free.
The proposals, which the DVLA is consulting on until 25 August, should take effect in October and result in claimed savings of £18m a year for drivers, and approaching £2m a year for industry. Around £1.6m of the latter arising directly from the reduction in charges for tachograph cards with the rest based on photocard licence fee reductions, time savings and the lower charges for online applications.
It is not clear exactly how long DVLA has been running a surplus for but a DVLA spokeswoman told us that its overall size had “increased significantly in 2013-14 due to the delivery of some major efficiency initiatives which reduced our overall expenditure”.
In the consultation document, the agency admits it “would not be acceptable or in the public interest to continue without doing anything” about the matter.
Ian Gallagher, head of policy for driver licensing and vehicle registration at the FTA, said reaction from more than 20 members so far was “very positive”, and he particularly welcomed the fact that vocational licence applications would remain free of charge.
