The news will be welcomed by many organisations – one of which, LicenceCheck, has warned fleet managers not to use an alternative service called View My Driving Licence, as it is intended only for drivers and other users face prosecution under the Data Protection Act.
LicenceCheck offers a licence checking service with its online portal linked directly to the DVLA. Apart from its service, fleet managers can also check directly with the DVLA or continue to check paper counterparts until their abolition next month (8 June).
Richard Brown, managing director of LicenceCheck, says his firm has found many fleet managers are confused about how to check licences:
"Some of the fleets we have spoken to have been told it's okay to use this [View My Driving Licence] service if they've obtained a written mandate from the employee concerned," he says.
"But this conflicted with our understanding, so we asked the DVLA and received a definitive response stating that is 'intended for drivers to check their own records only, and should not be used by third parties to access driver records'."