Driving schools protest news licence portal

Not satisfied with the changes made in the online portal for issuing driving licences and applying for them, driving schools staged a protest at the transport ministry on Tuesday.

The driving schools went to the transport ministry on Tuesday and expressed their concerns with posters and dissatisfaction. Among their concerns were:

One of the protesters said there were problems with the newly opened portal and no documents could be submitted through the portal. It is also a matter of concern that people who learn to drive by going to driving schools are not being able to share their information on the portal through the schools, he said.

"They are saying that we will provide a login for driving schools. They say it's tomorrow every day. Today, they said it will be two weeks," one of the protestors said.

According to the man, all services related to licences issued by the transport ministry to replace the portal have been suspended for the past three weeks.

"Where in the world has a service provided by a government ministry been suspended in this manner for so many days?," said an angry man there.

Minister of State for Transport Ahmed Zuhair told Atoll Times that with the newly introduced software for use in licensing-related activities, everyone can apply for licensing-related services on their own.

"The driving schools want to go ahead with the process of applying for licences through them. Once the licence is digital, you can access the portal using e-passes," he said.

Zuhair said the tests to be done while applying for a licence will also begin this Tuesday.

"We are constantly sharing issues related to our services with driving schools. There is also be a Viber group," he said.

The issuance of licences was put on hold late last month in order to introduce digital licenses. At the same time, it has been decided that vehicles will be allowed to drive using expired licences until the end of this month.