Is a driver's license an identity document?

Good afternoon, dear reader.

A driver's license is a document containing detailed information about the driver of a vehicle. In this regard, the question arises, is a license a proof of identity and can it be used instead of a passport?

This article will talk about identity documents, as well as their use when participating in road traffic:

• What documents prove your identity?
• Passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation.
• Driver's license.
• Temporary identity card when replacing a passport.
• Documents when communicating with the traffic police: issuance or replacement of rights;
• registration actions with the car;
• stopping a car by a traffic police officer.

Let's get started.

What documents prove your identity?

Unfortunately, in 2021 in the Russian Federation there is no single regulatory act that would establish a list of identity documents.

That is, if you want to find out, for example, whether a police officer’s service ID is an identity document, then you should find a regulatory document related to service IDs.

The same applies to any other document containing information about its owner.

Therefore, within the framework of this article, several regulations will be considered at once.

What the law requires

At the legislative level, the issue of the list of documents the presentation of which is allowed to prove one’s identity has not yet been fixed.

IMPORTANT! According to Presidential Decree No. 232, dated March 13, 1997, it is considered that the main evidence confirming and identifying a citizen of the country is a passport.

In most cases, the court sides with citizens, since licenses are issued only upon presentation of a passport and contain a photograph and other information about the person. Despite this, it is hardly possible to count on any compensation in this case.

Driver's license

Federal Law “On Road Traffic Safety”, Article 25, paragraph 4:

4. The right to drive vehicles is confirmed by a driver’s license.

The Law “On Road Safety” and other related regulations only say that the license confirms the right to drive vehicles. Those. A driver's license is not an identification document.

Note. Nevertheless, a driver's license can be used as a document to determine the age of the buyer of alcoholic products (Order of the Ministry of Industry and Trade No. 1728 of May 31, 2017).

Sale of cigarettes and alcohol

Since the driver’s license contains a photograph and date of birth, logically this document should be valid when purchasing alcohol and cigarettes. But logical arguments do not always agree with legal acts on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Based on the order of the Ministry of Industry and Trade 524 (dated April 15, 2011), it is possible to identify a person, determine age and sell alcohol to a foreigner in Russia (as well as to a Russian) using the following documents:

1. Resident card;
2. Refugee certificate;
3. Temporary stay document;
4. Passport.

The government agency plans to add driver's licenses to this list during the current year. However, on May 12, 2014, the Ministry of Health issued order 215n, on the basis of which it is allowed to sell tobacco products upon presentation of a driver’s license .

Therefore, the seller has every right to refuse to sell alcohol based on a driver’s license, but not cigarettes .

Temporary identity card when replacing a passport

Regulations “On the passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation”, paragraph 17:

Before issuing a new passport, a citizen, at his request, is issued a temporary identity card by the territorial body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the form of which is established by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.

Replacing a passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation takes up to 30 days. If you require an identification document during this period, you should obtain a temporary identity card from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It will be issued only if you express a corresponding desire.

Please note that although this document is an identification document, it is not a complete replacement for a passport.

For example, if the regulations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs say that an identity card is required to replace a license, then a temporary certificate will do.

However, if the regulations say that only a passport is needed, then government agencies will not accept any replacement.

Legal basis of a driver's license as a document of personal identification

As mentioned above, not a single law in our country clearly defines that a driver’s license is a document identifying a person. But a number of by-laws contain paragraphs according to which a driver’s license can be used as an identity document.

Where the law states that the license is used as proof of identity

• A ruling issued by the Supreme Court. This document states that a driver’s license has all the necessary attributes to be approved as a citizen’s identity identifier. This verdict was supported in its ruling by the Cassation Board of the Supreme Court.
• Some by-laws issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
• By-law of the Tax Ministry.

All of the above documents are, as it were, “internal departmental” and are not endowed with the force of federal law. All these acts are not more important than the law, which stipulates the entire list of documents that can be used as personal identification.

As we can see, these acts do not directly establish that a driver's license can be an individual identification, although they do not prohibit it . They only prescribe special cases when this can be done.

For example, a driver's license can be presented as proof that you are over eighteen years old (when purchasing alcoholic beverages and cigarettes). In offices that rent out various things, licenses can also successfully replace a passport.

But you won’t be able to use your rights at the post office when receiving a parcel. The Prosecutor General's Office prohibited this as a result of an official investigation into the matter.

To sum it all up, we see that a driver's license is unsuitable for use as personal identification in most situations. And this will not happen until the rights are included in the list of federal law documents that are official personal identifiers.

Still have questions? You can leave a request and our specialist will call you back.

Documents when communicating with the traffic police

Issue or replacement of rights

Administrative Regulations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the provision of public services for conducting examinations for the right to drive vehicles and issuing driver’s licenses, paragraph 28:

28. To receive public services, applicants submit:

28.2. Identification document of the applicant.

Citizens of the Russian Federation present a passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation or a temporary identity card of a citizen of the Russian Federation.

This paragraph directly states 2 documents that can be submitted to the traffic police:

• passport;
• temporary identity card;

Note. Until April 1, 2021, the previous version of the regulations was in force, which allowed for the provision of other identification documents.

Registration actions with the car

Administrative Regulations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the provision of state services for registration of vehicles, paragraph 27.2:

27. To receive public services, applicants submit documents provided for in Article 15 of the Federal Law:

27.2. A document certifying the identity of an individual who is the owner of a vehicle, and in the case of an application from a representative of the owner of the vehicle - also a document certifying the identity of the representative of the owner of the vehicle and a document confirming his authority. … 27.2.1. Citizens of the Russian Federation present a passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation or a temporary identity card of a citizen of the Russian Federation. … 27.2.4. If the owner of the vehicle is a citizen of the Russian Federation who has not reached the age of 16, his birth certificate must be additionally submitted.

Please note that in this case it is clearly stated that citizens of the Russian Federation can only provide:

• passport;
• temporary identity card;
• birth certificate.

Let's look at an example. Let Vasily turn 45 on February 6, 2021 and apply for a new passport. At the same time, he was issued a temporary identity card.

From January 1, 2021, such a certificate can be used when registering a vehicle with the traffic police, that is, Vasily can register the car without any problems.

Until the end of 2021, a temporary identity card was not included in the registration regulations. That is, if the same situation had occurred in 2019, then Vasily would have had to wait until he was issued a new passport. Only then could he contact the traffic police.

As for foreign citizens, when carrying out registration actions they can use a passport of a foreign citizen or another document identifying the foreign citizen.

In what cases will a driver's license not be taken into account?

In most situations that every person faces every day, it will not be possible to do without a passport. Having a passport, not a driver's license, is necessary in the following cases:

• litigation, legal proceedings;
• hiring and firing;
• various notarial procedures;
• conducting banking and other financial transactions (money transfers);
• performing actions within the framework of a previously issued power of attorney;
• receiving services from the registry office;
• issuance of any official documents (military ID, foreign passport);
• voting in elections;
• obtaining registration;
• obtaining a loan or insurance;
• leaving the territory of Russia.

A driver’s license is often used as a second document, but without presenting a passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation it will not be possible to cope in almost any situation related to confirming a person’s identity or citizenship, as well as in any operations requiring a signature.

Expert opinion

Stepanov Vladislav Vasilievich

Practitioner lawyer with 10 years of experience. Specializes in the field of civil law. Member of the Bar Association.

In accordance with Article 56 of the Civil Procedure Code, in order to receive financial compensation, the plaintiff must prove the following circumstances in court:

• 1 Fact of a traffic accident;
• 2 Type and extent of damage caused;
• 3 Guilt of the road service in causing an accident;

Let's consider methods and documents that will help prove each of the circumstances listed in the previous section:

• 1 The fact of an accident can be proven by a protocol and a fine from the scene of the accident, drawn up by traffic police officers:
• Some sub-item that does not require numbering but requires listing in a block with other listings
• One more point just for clarity

I made a link in the body of the post in this format with blue blocks related to the topic so that they could be displayed and sent to other topics from the topic

Disputes regarding the recognition of a driver's license as an identity document still do not subside between legislative and executive bodies. According to federal law, a driver's license is not included in the list of such documents.

At the same time, the Supreme Court of Russia, after consideration, has more than once decided that a document allowing one to drive a car contains enough data to prove one’s identity.

“Clause 1 of the Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation dated August 1, 2002 N 720 approved a sample of a temporary permit for the right to drive a vehicle (Appendix No. 1).

On the reverse side of the approved form it is indicated that this temporary permit to drive a vehicle is valid upon presentation of a citizen’s identity card (passport).”

However, supporting data is not contained in any of the codes:

• labor legislation;
• tax law;
• cadastral legislation;
• labor Code;
• civil Code.

This is the main contradiction. It turns out that the executive branch recognizes what the legislative branch is silent about.

What to believe in this case? What is the official answer to the question of whether a driver's license is an official document of identification under the law?

For foreigners

What documents are proof of identity? The list of basic documents for citizens of the Russian Federation has already been studied. What should foreigners do? After all, their identities also need to be identified.

So, a foreigner can use to bring the idea to life:

• national passport;
• diplomatic passport;
• passport of a citizen of the USSR, model 1974;
• a certificate issued by a foreign state to a stateless person;
• RVP;
• residence permit;
• certificate of consideration of the request for refugee recognition;
• refugee certificate.

In fact, everything is not as difficult as it seems. The listed documents by law indicate the identity of a person. Therefore, they can be used for certain operations. This is quite normal.

The legislative framework

Today, the Ministry of Economic Development, with the assistance of the Central Bank and Rosfinmonitoring, is developing a bill that would allow the use of driver’s licenses for simplified identification of individuals. This project has been approved by the regulator and will be implemented as part of the Digital Economy program.

The Central Bank explains that the choice of this particular document is due to the fact that it is quite widespread among Russians. In addition, driver’s licenses can be checked quite easily and simply using the information resources of executive authorities.

Status documents

Along with a driver's license, the following documents do not correspond to the level of a passport:

1. Certificates of lawyers, law enforcement officers, employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, fiscal services, civil servants.
2. Notarized copy of passport.
3. Student ID.
4. Social status documents of citizens.
5. Certificates of strict form for those serving a sentence or under investigation.
6. Employment history.

The purpose of the listed documents is to confirm the status of the owner. By providing such paper, you will gain access to a group of goods with age restrictions, avoid conflict with the police, but you definitely will not vote, enter into a lease agreement, receive money at the cash register, etc.

Also, with a driver's license you will not be able to:

• buy train or plane tickets,
• arrange to receive the parcel.

But at the same time, citizens are allowed to attend trials, thanks to the resolution of the Moscow City Court dated September 9, 2011, in which the VU, along with the social card, is designated as an identity document.

Characteristics of basic identification documentation

A passport is a person’s main document and differs from all others in its special content:

• FULL NAME. owner;
• Date and place of birth;
• gender of the owner;
• information about registration and deregistration;
• military affiliation mark;
• information about marital status;
• presence or absence of young children;
• on the issuance of a foreign passport.

Additional information may include the blood type and Rh factor of the individual, which is not mandatory for recording.

The document also contains:

1. Code of the country.
2. A special set of numbers and letters for machine reading. Helps clarify information about a citizen stored in various bodies and structures.
3. A personal number applied during the production of the form in the printing house.
4. Image of the symbols of the state.

Made from specialized paper to avoid counterfeiting. The entire process is controlled by the Government of the Russian Federation.