The DVLA’s previous overnight checking system – called Electronic Driver Entitlement Checking Service (EDECS) – has been replaced by the real-time Access to Driver Data (ADD) system.
ADD has been in operation for several months to ensure a smooth changeover, but LicenceCheck points out that the DVLA’s own figures show that only 6.3% of checks between April and December last year were made using the new system – suggesting, it says, that many organisations are ill prepared.
This could mean, it adds, that some agencies have not tested the new service and may fail to carry out robust checks on licences.
“The real fools on April 1st will be those third party licence checking providers that left it too late to start hitting the real-time licence checking service in anger,” says LicenceCheck’s managing director Richard Brown. “There’s no excuse for failing to stay up to date with how our industry has changed over the last 12 months.”
He adds that his business switched to the new service as soon as it became available: “As such we have a thoroughly tried-and-tested solution that is reliable and actually delivers what it says on the tin.
“Among agencies providing licence checking using DVLA’s real-time services, we made up 53% of all checks on the last officially reported figures. We’ve been ready for the switchover for over a year; most other companies can’t say the same.”