XN000022-1973-03-16 — Page 9

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Friday, March 16, 1973

FEE INCREASE FOR DRIVING LICENCES AND TEST FORMS EXPLAINED

To Clear Backlog And Cut aiting Time

It appears that the public has misunderstood the purpose of

the recent increase in fees for test forms, provisional licences and

driving licences, a Transport Department spokesman said today.

"People criticise it as an ineffective measure to relieve

road congestion, but that is not its main purpose," he said.

As the Financial Secretary stated in his Budget speech on

February 28, the primary object of the increases was to discourage

the large numbers of applicants for driving licences who are overloading

the machinery for conducting driving tests.

Despite an accelerated driving programme that started late

last year with about 900 appointments a day, "there is still a backlog

of 75,000 applicants," the spokesman said," and more are coming forward

at a rate of 6,000 a month. The faster they are tested, the more come

forward,"

Some of the applicants had no immediate need for a driving

licence and were applying for one either as a status symbol or because

it might be useful in future, he said.

This operates unfairly against applicants who have a genuine

and immediate need for a licence. It means that the waiting time for

the written and road tests is unnecessarily prolonged.

/At present,