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The paper tax disc is closing in on its centenary birthday after being established over 90 years ago, but recent advances in technology mean that the Police no longer need or rely on the existence of the paper tax disc.
The Government are currently on a scrapping roll after recently announcing the cut of fuel increases in the new year and are now consulting the idea of scrapping the paper versions after recently Police documents state that they no longer need them to be there as they get all the details they need from the automatic number plate recognition system they currently have in place.
Scrapping the paper version of the tax disc would suit all parties as it would cut bureaucracy and save money as well as making the process of updating your car tax a much simpler duty for the 36 million motorists on the road today.
The information of whether your car was registered or not would now be stored and displayed electronically rather than the display of a paper tax disc. Like the majority of things electronically purchased, owners would receive confirmation of purchase through the form of a text or email giving them the documents they need if there ever was doubt.
The reminders may also go down the electronic route and be sent by either email or text rather than the traditional paperwork through the post.
Once the motorist had successfully paid for their road fund license, the details would be sent electronically to the DVLA system to allow the correct authorities to access the information when they need to do so.
The plans that are currently being consulted are part of a wide agenda to assess all outdated systems and complex processes to decide whether it would be advantageous to the majority of parties to change these systems.
The hard version of the driving license may be one of these systems due for chop as the Police and other authorities will, similar to the tax disc, have all the details they need stored electronically.
However, there are some motoring enthusiasts who wouldn’t welcome the change as they see the paper tax disc as a visual stamp of the British motoring industry. Various motoring groups have described the scrapping of paper tax discs “as the end of a motoring era”.
Would you welcome the change?