Algeria: Enforcement Of Points-Based Driving License Before End Of 2018

The biometric points-based driving license in Algeria will come into force by the end of 2018. Only a transitional period will be necessary for the establishment of the national file of the driving license, the national register of registrations and that of the infringements.

Announced on numerous occasions, the biometric points-based driving license will be operational only by the end of the year 2018, announced Tuesday, the Director of the National Center for Prevention and Road Safety, Ahmed Naït El Hocine.

Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar held in Algiers, he said that the relevant document will be issued before the set time-frame but its implementation imposes a transitional period. 

Until the end of 2018, the administration will continue with the old system of sanctions, notably with the withdrawal of driving licenses from reckless and failing drivers.

Why does the integration of the biometric points-based driving license require a necessary transitional period? According to Mr. Ahmed Naït El Hocine, the smooth implementation to this effect of a reliable system of sanction without any fault depends on it.

“We do not want to rush by deploying early the points-based driving license because the data system failure can cause a number of nagging problems,” he argued.

To this end, the production and enrollment of the biometric electronic driving license will be carried out any time soon. This endeavor, he noted, “will make it possible to set up an exhaustive database of all the holders of the brand-new points-based driving license”.

While recalling that Algeria has more than ten million driving licenses in circulation, he stressed that their enrollment requires time for the screening and reorganization of the relevant files already existing in the 48 provinces of the country.