The DVLA says that from June 8, drivers with a photocard driving licence should destroy their paper counterpart and only keep the photocard, remembering to renew it when necessary (gov.uk/renew-driving-licence). Motorists could face a £1,000 fine if they are caught with an invalid licence.
Old style paper driving licences issued before the photocard was introduced in 1998 will still be valid and should not be destroyed.
The DVLA confirmed that there would be no charge for changing an old style paper licence to a photocard licence with a change of details. However, once the motorist has the photocard licence, they will have to pay £20 each time it is renewed (every 10 years).
Anyone over the age of 70 will need to renew their licence every three years, updating it with any medical conditions. This is free of charge. "If a driver updated their licence with a change of address, name or notified a medical conditions then the updated licence issued will be a photocard licence," the DVLA said.
This change means that all licences, including the old style pre-1998 paper licences, will no longer be annotated with new driving convictions and penalty points. Instead, drivers will be able to share their licence details with third parties via a new digital service called "View Driving Licence". Motorists can go online to view their own driving record at gov.uk/view-driving-licence.
This service allows drivers to see how many penalty points they have and what vehicles they can drive.
The DVLA said it was developing another service for those who need to check the driving record of an employee or customer.
A spokesman for the DVLA said: “We want to make it as easy as possible for motorists to access government services.
“Getting rid of needless bits of paper, making changes to free up drivers' time, while saving money for the taxpayer, is all part of our commitment to cut unnecessary red tape. That is why we are introducing new and easy to use digital services that will allow drivers and businesses to check driving entitlement and endorsements. This means there will no longer be a need for the paper counterpart of the driving licence which will save drivers over £5m every year."
