You can now get the driving licence in any municipal department with extended powers

You can now get the driving licence in any municipal department with extended powers
27/6/2018Press releases

Thanks to some new legal amendments, life will be easier for drivers starting in July. Driving licences, driver's professional competence certificates and memory cards for the digital tachograph can now be obtained in any municipal department with extended powers. The applicant no longer has to submit a paper photograph when filing the application for a new licence or licence replacement. Also, the driving licence does not have to be changed if the place of residence changes. The legal fees for the driving licence changed as well. The replacement of an expired licence will still be free of charge.

You can now get the driving licence in any municipal department with extended powers
Starting in July, all basic changes regarding the driving licence can be arranged in the closest municipal department with extended powers. This principle applies: The driver picks up the driving licence in the same department where he/she applied for it. You can find the list of all municipal departments on the interactive map of the Ministry of Transport.

Partial relaxing of local competence

"Applicants can now get their first driving licence at the closest municipal authority if they have passed the final exam at the driving school. Local authorities now have even more powers such as the replacement of an expired or invalid licence, issuance of the memory card for the digital tachograph and the international driving licence. Nobody has to travel to his/her place of permanent residence any more like it has been so far," explains the transport minister deputy Ladislav Němec and adds: "They will also help you here if you want to change your family name after your wedding, if you have lost your licence or when your licence has been damaged or stolen."

The system will get photos from other registers and/or the worker at the desk will make a photo of the applicant

Applicants have been required to bring their own photos to the authority. This is now a matter of the past.

"We have equipped all municipalities with extended powers with cameras which will take a photo of the applicant directly at the desk. They also have tablets where the applicant enters his/her digital signature. This is now the end printed driving licence applications," explains Stanislav Dvořák, head of the Driver Agenda Section at the Ministry of Transport.

No photo of the applicant will be needed in some cases. The system of the Ministry of Transport will send a query to the system of the Interior Ministry asking whether the applicant already has a digital photo from his/her passport or ID card. If such a photo can be used (it is available and still resembles the applicant), no photo shooting at the desk will be necessary.

The only exception when a paper photo will be still needed is the application for the international driving licence, because the format is strictly designed by international agreements.

A change in the place of residence has no impact on the driving licence

When the place of residence changed, the driver was obliged to report such a change to the authority which subsequently issued a new licence. This duty no longer applies. Starting in July, the driving licence will no longer contain information on the place of residence. This also applies to existing, valid driving licences.

Exceptions when the applicant must visit the authority in the place of his/her residence

Some situations will still require that the applicant comes to the authority with extended power in the place of his/her residence. This will happen when the driving licence has been taken or shall be returned by the police, when driving restrictions apply or for other situations not directly connected with the records kept by the municipality with extended powers in the place of the driver's residence.

Municipalities with extended powers must prepare the the change, so they will close for one and a half days

"Municipalities with extended powers must prepare for the transition to the new system, which is why on Friday June 29 they will closed for the whole day and on Thursday 28 July they will closed for the afternoon, i.e. no driving licence applications or applications for driver's professional competence certificates can be handled. We are pointing this out in advance, so that nobody is surprised. Do not leave your driving licence stuff for the last two working days in July," warns Jan Paroubek, head of the Driving Applications and Technology Section of the state enterprise Cendis, and adds: "From July 2 the State Printing Works of Securities will no longer accept applications with printed photos. Everything will be done in the electronic way. Therefore, the municipalities must process until the end of the month all the printed applications they have accepted."

Changes to administrative fees

The replacement of an expired driving licence will be free of charge like it has been.

The fee for the issuance of the new licence rises from CZK 50 to CZK 200. Also the fee for accelerated issuance of the licence within five working days rises from CZK 500 to CZK 700. "The driving licence issuance fee has been the same for many years. We paid CZK 20 for the pink books issued before 1898 and at the beginning of 1993 the price was raised to the current CZK 50. This means that the fee for the driving licence issuance has not changed for more than 25 years. It driving licence issuance will now cost a bit more, but this higher fee will be compensated by higher convenience. Applicants do not need to come with a printed photo and do not have to travel to the location of their place of permanent residence any more, which for some people meant taking a day off," says Stanislav Dvořák.

Preparations and system testing

No new information system had to be procured as a result of the more relaxed driving agenda, but the existing Central Registry of Drivers was upgraded and the digital tachograph system modified.

The state enterprise Cendis obtained the required equipment for the municipalities. "The offices of the municipalities with extended powers are now ready in terms of the new technology. The new systems have been tested since the beginning of June, so that everything is up and running in July. We have trained all staff from the whole country very thoroughly, demonstrated the system to them and answered questions from practice," added Jan Paroubek.

How are driving licences made?

Driving licences have many security features and are centrally personalised, which is why they must be made in the State Printing Works of Securities. "They are made under strict conditions defined by the national or international legislation. The production quality of Czech driving licences is the world top quality. Thousands of driving licences are made every day and this year up to 5 000 units are made every day," explains Ondřej Hyršl, head of production in the State Printing Works of Securities.

Driving licences are personalised by laser engraving to polycarbonate cards with specific design and receive a number of security features. The positive relief coining on both sides of the licence, the changing image in the right bottom corner of the front side, the visually changing logo print with "CZ" letters, etc. are just some examples. But also this driving licence design has undergone a development since 2004. To be specific, we added another security feature last year: tactile engraving of some items on both card sides.


Questions from driving licence applicants

Does the validity period change for newly issued driving licences?

No, these changes have no impact on the validity period. This means that the driving licence expires after ten years for motorcycle drivers, car drivers and others. Drivers with the authorisation to drive a truck or bus must replace their cards every five years.

How long does it take to get the new driving licence?

The standard period is 20 days since application submission. If you however need the driving licence faster for whatever reason, you can apply for an accelerated issuance within five working days. It will just cost you more. Those who apply for the driving licence for the first time (those who have just passed the driving school exams) cannot make use of the shorter, five-day period. The reason is that the administration with the first driving licence is more complex.

Do I need a new driving licence after changing my family name?

One of the situations when the driver does need to visit the authority to change the licence is the change of name. In this situation, the driving licence needs to be replaced and the same applies to all other documents.


 
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