There have been growing concerns regarding the mistakes and sometime fraudulent practices taking place during the application for a new driver’s license or to renew an existing license.
The matter of duplication of driver license numbers has popped up recently where people renewing licenses were told their license number is being used by someone else; therefore, delaying the process for them to have that sorted out.
The Road Traffic Authority (RTA) Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Nelson Terema, said this has been happening, but the RTA is now doing something to address it.
“We do not have an IT system or a centralized system to perform vehicle registry and driver licensing. Therefore, at the moment Motor Vehicle Insurance Limited (MVIL) and the provincial government traffic registry are performing vehicle registering and driver licensing in Papua New Guinea.”
“But the RTA is now procuring a centralized system which we hope will be up and running before the end of the year,” said Mr. Terema.
He added that there might be some issues with the registries at the other vehicle registry offices, but the proposed new system should address this.
“So, the only way to co-exist is to have a centralized IT system in PNG so we can correct these omissions, duplications and fraudulent activities, so that our drivers can go through the normal process to obtain driver license.”