Cairo: Kuwaiti traffic authorities have resumed renewal of driving licences for expatriates after a hiatus as the country seeks to expose illegible drivers.
The renewal service is available online as part of a process aimed to verify that the holders meet requirements, Al Rai newspaper reported, citing security sources.
“Now expatriates can log on to the website of the General Directorate of Traffic and apply for renewing their driving licences six months before its expiry date smoothly according to relevant regulations,” the sources said.
While, applying for licence drivers is available to everyone online, the ineligible drivers would not be able to print their licences via the automatic machines installed in shopping centres, the paper said.
Instead, such applicants are requested to check with traffic departments to verify their data.
“In case, the licence driver is found not to meet the conditions, the old licence is withdrawn and a blockage sign is placed on the electronic licence on the website of the Interior Ministry and the Hawyati [My Identity] app linked to the Civil Information,” sources said.
Earlier this month, Kuwaiti authorities denied claims that they had banned renewing expatriates’ driving licences.
The denial was made after some Kuwaiti media carried reports that traffic authorities had temporarily halted renewal of driving licences for all expatriates in the country pending a new system to revoke licences of the ineligible ones.
The Interior Ministry explained that traffic authorities in coordination with the Department of Information Systems had carried out a “routine procedure” to update data of the issued driving licences replacing the old documents with smart ones.
