Russia will begin issuing driver's licenses with microchips

Electronic driver's license - will it be introduced in 2021?

No. A digital driver's license is not yet practiced in Russia. And if you want to get electronic control rights, then nothing will work out for you. As of 2021, the traffic police issue only old-style plastic vehicles, and no new laws have been introduced in this regard.

And we propose to try to find “proofs” in the official way, moving from the opposite:

new forms of electronic documents are introduced by relevant government regulations - then try looking for them on the official portal for the publication of legal acts on the issue of electronic driver's rights... there are no innovations here,
such changes are also, as a rule, announced on the official websites of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, but here too there are no new laws introducing an electronic driving license,
and, finally, the third source of legal information is the road safety section of the Russian Government website, there is also no news here.

Thus, there are no new laws on the introduction of electronic car rights as of 2021.

How to replace a foreign driver's license

The federal legislation “On Road Safety” establishes the validity period of the national driver’s license. From the moment the rights are issued, they are valid until the expiration of the period specified in them. If the certificate does not specify a validity period, then it is valid for 10 years from the date of issue.

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As the police clarified, information recently appeared in the media about an experiment on using a special mobile application instead of car registration documents and a driver’s license.

The State Traffic Inspectorate officially presented the first images of driver's licenses with so-called microchips. The new driver's license will comply with the requirements of the 1968 Convention on Road Traffic. According to the data posted on the legal information portal, the dimensions of the certificate will be 85.6 x 54 mm.

In addition, internal operational information will be indicated there. The chip itself will be sewn inside the document. For some time he worked in his specialty, until in 2021 he began training as an editing director. As a result, creating videos captured him and became his main profession. In 2021, he joined Rambler as a video editor.

Drivers who have already had to obtain an international document remember that this procedure was always accompanied by long lines, paperwork and wasted time. However, today this procedure has been significantly simplified.

Such a document consists of several pages. This is necessary in order to enter detailed information about the driver in different languages. In this regard, such rights resemble a small brochure. This is an international form of identification. The book is presented in A6 format. Here, as in state licenses, not only detailed information about the car owner is indicated.

A category A transport license allows you to drive the following motor vehicles:

motorized strollers;
motorcycles;
motorcycles with motorcycle trailers.

Motorists will ultimately have to pay for this. At the same time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs emphasizes that the replacement of old driver’s licenses with new ones will be carried out as planned, after their expiration.

The State Traffic Inspectorate sent a document for approval to the State Duma with a proposal to allow citizens to drive a car from the age of 17.

The State Traffic Inspectorate presented mock-ups of a new driver’s license and vehicle registration certificate (VRC). They have an electronic chip embedded in them, on which the information indicated directly on the documents themselves is duplicated. This is done so that the traffic police inspector can quickly check the authenticity of the document.

When it will be?

No exact dates are known yet. However, according to news from October 2021, there is information that the government is actively working on this issue. In addition, he is actively promoting the possibility of introducing electronic rights and the traffic police.

In particular, at the moment it is said that the transition to a digital ID is possible by 2021 - both technical implementation and the formal legislative component of this possibility.

How much will it cost?

This issue is regulated by Article 333.33 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. But here, of course, no precise details have yet been announced.

Today, the cost of new rights is presented in the form of state duties, and the current ones include:

2,000 rubles for replacing or obtaining a plastic license,
3,000 rubles for a new generation plastic license - but here we are not talking about an electronic driver’s license, but about a license with a special chip, which, by the way, has not yet been introduced,
1,600 rubles for an international driver's license.

New type of rights. What it is?

First, let's figure out what the new model rights are. They are made of plastic and are more compact compared to paper ones, but the same in size as the plastic licenses of the previous model. The advantage of such a certificate compared to a paper one is their practicality. If the paper could be wet, torn or dirty, then this will not happen to a plastic card. On the back side there are more lines for categories due to changes in legislation. In addition, to the left of the table there is a barcode that will allow traffic police officers to verify the authenticity of the ID and find out all the information about the owner in two seconds.

How can I get it?

It's quite simple:

first you submit an application (through State Services or in person) and pay the fee for issuing electronic rights,
then on the chosen day you come to the traffic police, where they take a photo of you for your new license,
after that, information about your receipt of a new license or about replacing old ones with electronic ones after their expiration date is entered into the electronic database of the State Traffic Inspectorate.

And it's all!

At the same time, the head of the traffic police assures that even when digital driver’s licenses can be officially obtained, the opportunity to issue a plastic card will still remain for motorists. That is, the transition to electronic V/U will be optional.

What opportunities will the new rights provide?

New driver's licenses with microchips can be used as an internal passport, i.e. civil identity card, which will significantly simplify many transactions for owners.

Leading technologists of the project explain that a chip with biometric data on a driver’s license will allow it to be used for operations with remote identification. How it works?

When will they start issuing licenses with a biometric chip?

If a citizen needs to receive a certain financial service, he can confirm his identity with biometric rights; it will also be possible to use the rights when performing any legal transactions or any others where identification confirmation will be required.

Owners of such documents will have ample opportunities:

remote receipt of government services;
remote use of an electronic signature to perform any operations;
receiving legal services at a distance;
simplified procedures for citizens and businesses;
reduced administrative barriers.

Over time, they plan to replace the paper internal passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation with a plastic card with biometric data.

But what should you show to the traffic police inspector?

And here two options are being considered, which have not yet been approved and have the status of initiatives.

The easiest way

It was proposed by the head of the traffic police. But the point is that after a driver is stopped by a police officer, the latter will simply check the database of the car (more precisely, its license plate number) to determine whether the driver has the right to drive.

The plot of such a check will look like this:

a traffic police inspector stops you and demands documents for verification,
you say that everything you have is electronic: a driver’s license, an MTPL policy and even a STS (they are also going to “digitize” it along with your license),
then 2 options are possible: either the policeman takes out a tablet, gets into the database and checks whether you have these documents (today it is already possible to check insurance in this way), or asks for your passport in order to prove your identity,
The employee finds your license plate with your photo, checks visually whether you are driving and lets you go on your way (or issues a fine for any violation, because stopping without reason is still not possible everywhere).

Method number 2 - from the phone

This method was also considered by the head of the traffic police, Chernikov, as well as the deputy head of the department.

And its details are that, in fact, a digital copy of your electronic rights will be stored on your smartphone:

similar to the first option, an inspector stops you and asks for documents,
you present your smartphone, and the employee reads information about your ID using a special medium - much like your bank cards are read, that is, the same NFC technology will probably be used.

But in this case, quite reasonable questions arise:

what to do if the driver has a phone without NFC,
if you have a push-button device,
and if you don’t have a means of communication at all, did you forget it at home?

There is only one answer: since the initiative for electronic rights in 2021 implies their voluntary issuance and replacement, then if your technological capabilities do not allow you to present a digital copy of your license to the traffic police inspector, then be so kind as to get the old plastic version.

And if you have everything to present new rights in electronic form, you have issued them, but forgot your smartphone at home, then a fine for lack of rights may be quite logical and legal. That is, responsibility can also be placed on the driver.

Something else useful for you:

The obligation to pay fines to return your license after deprivation has been abolished - is this true?
What are the changes to traffic tickets in 2021?
Marks AT, APS, MC, GCL, HA/CF on your license - what do they mean and what is the fine for them?

How to go abroad?

Another logical question: if the driver has a new generation of electronic licenses, how will they be accepted abroad? The answer here is clear and simple: no way!

The fact is that if Russia even introduces a driver’s license in digital format in 2021, it will be the first country in the world with such an innovation. Therefore, it is quite natural that in this case you will face punishment in other countries.

But here we also remember that the Ministry of Internal Affairs plans to introduce the possibility of obtaining electronic licenses as an option. But it is also possible that the driver will be able to have both options at the same time, that is:

when you first receive or replace your license, you will be given an old-style plastic physical license,
but they will also add this document to the database in electronic form.

And then you can either take it with you or leave it at home - in the latter case, the inspector will simply punch it through the database. And when going abroad, you will definitely need to take a plastic device with you.