Who would be happy to lose a document? Of course, no one. And it doesn’t matter what kind of document it is - a simple certificate or something important. What should you do if you lost, say, your passport or driver’s license? The documents are the most important and need to be restored as soon as possible. But we have a car site, so we won’t discuss passport restoration here, but restoring a driver’s license if lost is worth discussing separately, since this procedure can be carried out quite quickly, but at the same time you need to keep an eye on all sorts of important details, such as the deadline validity of newly issued rights, etc.
Today we will talk about what the fine is for losing a driver’s license, how it is restored, and what the state duty is in 2020.
Is it allowed to drive without a license if it has been lost?
Let's say right away that it is impossible. Losing your driver's license is not a valid reason for driving without one. A driver who has lost his license must first restore it (get a new one) and only then can he drive.
If a driver is “caught” driving without a license, he will be fined for driving without a license and no excuse will help.
In addition, what we will tell you about restoring a driver’s license if it is lost also applies if the driver has damaged his license (torn, wet, etc.), if it was stolen from him or the expiration date has expired. But if you were deprived of your rights for a violation, then this description will not suit you; when depriving your rights, the procedure is different.
A citizen also has the right to change his driver’s license without the above reasons. For example, there are still 4 months before the license expires, and the driver will be in another place during a planned replacement (on a business trip, on vacation, for treatment, etc.).
Thus, he can change his driver’s license ahead of time (but not later), accordingly, and the validity period will be counted from the new date (from the date of receipt).
The law has two formulations:
- The right to drive a vehicle is given to a citizen who has passed the driving test. If a driver's license is lost, it is not lost and is retained by the driver.
- A driver's license is a document that confirms that a citizen has the right to drive. It is this document that proves that the citizen is allowed to drive. The loss of a driver's license, of course, does not lead to the loss of the right to drive, but a citizen can no longer confirm such a right. And without confirmation you can’t even get behind the wheel.
Production and receipt time
Another important question is how long it takes to restore a driver’s license. First of all, you need to remember that during the period of production of a new driver’s license, the motorist must use a temporary or duplicate one. The driver can receive a ready-made authentic license after 30 days, but in practice this procedure often exceeds this period. Therefore, it is possible to extend the temporary temporary residence permit.
To summarize, it is worth saying that the driver, for his own good, must take measures to keep the license in a safe place in order to subsequently avoid the financial costs associated with paying the fee to obtain a new driving license.
Losing a driver's license, of course, is unpleasant, but, nevertheless, knowing all the features associated with the procedure for restoring it, in practice the driver will not experience much trouble.
Fine for losing a driver's license
As we said above, if a citizen has lost his license and got behind the wheel without one, he will be fined five hundred rubles for driving without a license. Thus, it turns out that, figuratively speaking, the fine for losing a driver’s license in 2021 is 500 rubles . At the same time, the traffic police inspector does not have the right to take away the car and license plates.
But be careful , when the traffic police officer issues you a fine, look at the wording. A traffic police inspector can issue a fine not for driving without a license, but for driving without the right to drive a car. And this is a big difference.
| In the second case, the wording implies that you did not undergo training for your license at all, you did not have a license at all, and you cannot drive a car at all. And this is another fine of 5-15,000 rubles . |
| In the first case, the traffic police officer can check in the database whether the driver has a license , he just didn’t have one with him. |
If you encounter such a violation of your rights, feel free to file a lawsuit, because you have proof - your rights (albeit lost) are listed in the database, you received them, passed the exam, etc. The court will take this into account and make a decision in your favor.
But in fact, there is no penalty for losing a driver's license. The main thing is not to drive without a license, then you will be fined for driving without a driver's license.
When replacing, when a citizen submits an application for restoration of rights, there will be no fine for loss.
Restoring a driver's license - how much will it cost?
The procedure for restoring a driver's license at the traffic police is free. But the citizen is obliged to pay the state fee, one-time. So, the state duty in 2021 for the restoration of plastic rights will be two thousand rubles .
Restoration of a driver's license is available on the State Services website. Moreover, the cost of the state duty there will be a third less, and a driver’s license will cost one thousand four hundred rubles .
In some cases, a medical certificate may be required to restore lost rights. Then you will have to pay to receive it. And the price of a medical certificate depends on the category for which the license will apply.
Please note that the medical certificate remains valid for only one year after its receipt. Thus, if you have a certificate and it was issued more than a year ago, then it is no longer valid.
Where to go: where to renew your driver's license
Having discovered a loss, first of all check all the places where you might have forgotten the document - take a good look at the inside of the car, clothing pockets, etc. Women should start by completely emptying their purse. If all the measures turned out to be ineffective, you will have to muster your will and contact government agencies. The degree of freedom at the place of treatment depends on the following factors:
- Individuals permanently residing in Russia have the right to contact an institution providing such services in any region. After the introduction of a unified database of the State Traffic Inspectorate, the place of registration of a person ceased to matter.
- Individuals with temporary registration are forced to apply only to territorial divisions. However, they can only restore a certificate that was issued in the Russian Federation.
The first thing you need to do if you lose your driver’s license is to decide on the most convenient method for submitting documents. The state does not offer a wide range of options, and the only way to approach it with a request to restore your rights is as follows:
- visit to the traffic police MREO;
- registration through the State Services website;
- obtaining rights through a multifunctional center.
Each of the proposed methods has its pros and cons, which we will discuss below. At the same time, the cost of the procedure and the result will be the same everywhere.
When do you need to get a medical certificate?
Whether or not to obtain a medical certificate when restoring a lost driver’s license is up to the driver to decide. And that's why:
- If a citizen wants a new driver's license to be issued to him with a full validity period , i.e. for 10 years , then a medical certificate is needed upon restoration. Here, in fact, the citizen receives new rights, as when replacing expired rights, and they will be valid from the date of issue for the full term (10 years).
- But if a medical certificate is not provided, the citizen will be given only a duplicate of his current rights and they will be valid until the period indicated on the old, lost rights. We are not talking about replacing rights here.
The first option is beneficial to the driver whose license was already expiring due to the loss of his license. But if a citizen only recently received new rights and lost them, then, of course, it is more profitable to take a duplicate.
But it also happens that when issuing a duplicate license, they require a medical certificate. This requirement is illegal and a citizen who encounters this may ask the traffic police officer to justify his demand and point out that the demand is illegal and you will complain.
If a verbal threat has no effect, you can actually file a complaint in writing.
Can extradition be refused?
Valid reasons for obtaining a card confirming the driver’s right to drive vehicles are:
- Theft, loss of papers in a fire, in other tragic situations;
- Replacing a damaged permit;
- Change of surname, first name;
- Loss of rights.
Police officers are not required to issue temporary licenses to persons who grossly violated traffic rules or drove a car while intoxicated. Persons whose driver's license was confiscated based on the protocol drawn up may be refused a temporary card.
They will refuse to issue a duplicate:
- Persons on the wanted list;
- Drivers of a car reported stolen;
- If, upon inspection, it turns out that the motorist was driving with a fake license.
When reinstating a driver's license, you are required to pay fines. Is this legal
No, it's not legal. Of course, fines for violating traffic rules must be paid and it is better to pay on time. But the demand of some traffic police officers to pay all fines upon reinstatement is illegal. Because these two procedures are in no way interconnected.
And the presence of unpaid fines does not in any way prevent the restoration of a driver’s license if lost.
When a citizen submits an application to restore his rights and the traffic police inspector tells him that he will not issue a license until the citizen pays all existing fines, then you need to ask the employee for a written refusal with justification of the reason . And if he writes one (which is unlikely), write a complaint on this basis or file a lawsuit .
How to restore a passport: step-by-step instructions
If this is a loss of documentation, then no fine is provided if the person immediately contacts the authorized authority. Of an exceptional nature is special damage to documentation or careless storage, which subsequently led to the loss of passport data. If guilt is proven, the sanction will be 100–300 rubles.
- a statement, in the established format, about the loss of an identity document;
- an application where there is a requirement for the issuance of a new passport;
- photo in four copies;
- all documentation that the applicant has in his hands. These must be certificates confirming the identity of the applicant;
- a check confirming payment of the state fee.
If you lose your rights, are they given temporary
To date, there is no such thing as a temporary driver's license in the law. This document was previously given to drivers who were deprived of their driver's license by a traffic police inspector right at the point of stop. And temporary licenses allowed a citizen to drive with his license revoked until a court decision.
But now everything is not so, in case of a violation punishable by deprivation of rights, they are not taken away on the spot, they remain with the driver until the trial. Accordingly, temporary rights as a document were simply abolished (i.e. cancelled).
In addition, restoring a driver’s license today takes only a day and no temporary document is required for this period (you can somehow manage without a car for a couple of days).
Documents for reinstatement of driver's license
If a citizen wishes to obtain a duplicate driver’s license with the same validity period as the lost one, then the following documents are needed:
- Photocopy of passports.
- Application for restoration of rights.
- Receipt for payment of state duty.
But if a citizen wants to get new rights with a full validity period, then only a medical certificate .
Make sure that when filling out the medical certificate, only those categories that were on the lost license are entered there.
Nuances of recovery
Restoring your license requires you to have a driver's card. This is a special document that indicates that you graduated from a driving school. That is why it is worth keeping it, so that there is no need to confirm your knowledge again.
The certificate is now made on a plastic basis, so providing a photograph may not be necessary.
An important detail is also that to obtain a new certificate you do not need to retake the exams.
The only difference between the restored certificate and the original is the “Duplicate” marking.
If there is no desire to provide documents and visit various authorities, then you can entrust this to an authorized representative. The role of such a representative can be any authorized person who has the appropriate permission to do so.
Algorithm of actions for restoring rights
Today, reinstatement of a driver’s license is possible in three options:
- Submit an application on the State Services website. Only the application is submitted electronically; the license itself is issued in person at the selected traffic police department.
- Submit the application and documents directly to the traffic police department.
- Use the services of the multifunctional center.
The documents required for any of the three options are the same; we have listed them above.
Let's look at each option in more detail.
State Services website
To start, you need to register on this site. After which you need to log into your personal account and follow the following chain: Transport and driving – Driver’s license – Replacement of license in case of loss, damage or change of the car owner’s data.
In the resulting window that opens, read the procedure and conditions for the provision of services on the site and click on “Get a service.”
A form will appear in a new window that you need to fill out. Some fields will already be filled in with the data you provided during registration. In the “reason for replacement” column, select the desired item “loss”. Further, if you want to receive a duplicate, then we do not fill out anything about the medical certificate. If you want to get new rights, then we write the necessary information on the medical certificate. Select the categories of rights to which you have access. You don’t have to write information about old rights. Then select the branch where you will be issued a ready-made license. You can choose any department convenient for you from the list provided.
Once all the data has been entered, proceed to pay the state fee. This can be done directly on the website, from the map. Only in this case will a discount be available and the state duty will be only one thousand four hundred rubles . Don't forget to print a receipt confirming your payment. That's it, the procedure is over, all that remains is to go and pick up a new driver's license. Your photo will be taken upon your visit.
Go to the traffic police station yourself
To use this option, you need to collect the documents listed above and take them to the traffic police department yourself. Your application will be accepted, a photograph will be taken and a day will be set when your new license can be picked up. It is better to pay the fee in advance. This can be done at any bank branch.
Sample application for replacement of lost driver's license
