The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has disclosed that it has taken on a backlog exceeding 440,000 pending driver’s licence applications, a situation that officials have indicated has led to significant operational and security issues.
In an effort to address this challenge, the Authority has established a 24-hour operational centre aimed at centralising licence processing.
This initiative is designed to expedite the issuance of licences while ensuring the system is protected from unauthorised access and the distribution of counterfeit licences.
Speaking in an interview, Director of Corporate Affairs, Stephen Attuh, stated that this intervention has led to the resolution of approximately 400,000 applications.
Despite this advancement, he recognised that there are still ongoing complaints from applicants who assert that they have been waiting for their licences since 2023.
To further mitigate the backlog, the DVLA has enhanced its 24-hour operations by opening an additional centre in Adenta. Mr Attuh also mentioned that similar continuous services are operational at the ports in Takoradi and Tema to alleviate pressure on the system.
“Upon assumption of office by the current CEO, we noticed that there were over 440,000 backlog licence applications. So what he did was to commission a 24-hour centre because we wanted to centralise the system due to its security nature, so that we do not have people gaining access to it and issuing fake licences.
“What we are looking at currently is to operate our regional offices on a 24-hour basis. However, not all offices can function the same way.
“For those areas that cannot run a 24-hour service, we operate an extended service running two shifts until we see high demand, then we roll it out fully” he added.
