DVLA website crashes on first day of law change

[dutchman]

Thousands of motorists have been left without their road tax after the DVLA website crashed following its switch to a new system today.

People trying to access the system to purchase their tax discs were left waiting hours for the system to come back online.

From today tax discs are no longer being issued to drivers, ending a 93-year-old tradition.

Today the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) said: "We are currently experiencing high volumes of traffic to our online vehicle tax service please keep trying. Sorry for the inconvenience."

Anyone caught avoiding road tax can be forced to pay a £1,000 fine. The DVLA said 6,000 applications a minute were made online last night, forcing the registration agency to shut at midnight.

Edmund King, president of the AA, said: "We've had a number of our members coming on to us say that the DVLA car-tax site has crashed. It's a bit ironic in this digital age that the site goes down on the first day of the electronic system coming into being.

"I think that not only a lot of people have tried to get on to the site to renew their car tax but also a number have tried to access the site to find out how the changes to the car tax system affect them".

The Government has said the abolition will eventually save the DVLA around £7 million a year.

But motoring groups the AA and the RAC have both expressed reservations about doing away with the paper disc, while an Auto Trader survey showed a lack of awareness of the disc's abolition.

The RAC has expressed fears that, with the end of the paper disc, the number of motorists failing to pay VED could become as high as the number who drive without insurance.

The motoring organisation said this could result in a £167 million a year loss to the Exchequer.

Website Auto Trader said a survey of drivers revealed up to half were unsure about the actual process behind the switch to electronic discs.

The poll also showed 39 per cent were unaware it would no longer be possible to transfer road tax between the ex-owner and the new buyer of a vehicle, while 17 per cent were unsure of where to now pay the road tax. Also 26 per cent of drivers did not think the change is a good thing for consumers.

Tim Marriott, a spokesman for the Auto Trader website, said: "There has been a lack of guidance and advice."

[rebbonk]

Yet another government sponsored c*ck up!