Kuwait withdraws 1,000 driving licences in 40 days

Dubai: Kuwait’s General Traffic Department announced yesterday that it has withdrawn about 1,000 driving licences in 40 days from expats who violated rules, an average of 23 licences per day, local media reported.

The driving licences of expats are withdrawn if specific conditions to obtain a licence are not met, such as salary, university degree, or profession.

Currently all files of expats are being checked upon the instructions of First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Sheikh Talal Al Khaled, Al Rai newspaper reported.

The traffic department patrol teams have been given the green light to arrest those expats who have been driving after their licences were withdrawn and refer them to deportation for violating country law.

As a rule, an expat cannot drive a vehicle in Kuwait without a driving licence and is not entitled to drive with a revoked driving licence.

In October, the General Directorate of Traffic announced that about 3,000 expat driving licences were revoked in one week due to violation of conditions on which they were granted.

According to the traffic department, 3,000 expat driving licences have been revoked. The licences that have been revoked are due to work permit changes or people moving to different occupations; as a result, they no longer meet one of the requirements, either related to work profession or remuneration.