ATHENS – Greece is forging ahead with the digitalisation of processes for renewing driving licences and issuing replacement copies of vehicle registration papers, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Monday at a meeting held at the Maximos Mansion with the ministers involved.

“We are completely changing the process, we are making it digital. We are reducing bureaucracy and the possible petty corruption that may hide behind the present process,” Mitsotakis said.

He also expressed keen interest in discussing ideas for a digital ‘car wallet’ that allows all documents relating to vehicles, such as driving licences, registration, insurance, road worthiness inspections and others, to be stored digitally on a user’s phone.

Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis noted that his ministry, after making almost no progress in terms of digital transitions for years, was “also slowly entering the 21st century, with the help of digital policy,” and had taken great strides in the last 24 months.

Digital Governance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis presented two recently completed digital applications, which will allow online renewal of both professional and ordinary driving licences (for persons over 65), as well as the replacement of licences that have been lost, stolen or damaged. The licence can be printed at a police station and delivered by courier for a fee, obviating the need to visit a local transport ministry office in person.

An online process will also replace that for applying to replace stolen, lost or ruined vehicle registration papers.

Karamanlis announced that the ministry also intends to create a single system for issuing free motorway passes for people with disabilities.

The transport ministry has so far digitalised processes for the issue of temporary driving licences, replacing lost, stolen or destroyed driving licences, issuing vehicle permits for the ‘Daktylios’ ring in the centre of Athens.

Its future plans include the creation of a digital ‘car wallet’ that will allow users to store all documentation needed for their vehicles on their phone, the online transfer of registration to new owners, a driver behaviour point system and online issue of tachograph cards for professional drivers, especially long-distance lorry drivers.