Online car tax scheme falls behind schedule

Issues with MoT computerisation are to blame, Commons transport committee told

The Department for Transport’s (DfT) electronic car tax scheme faces significant delays, say MPs.

A report from the House of Commons transport committee blames the schedule for the MoT computerisation project falling behind by ‘a number of years’.

The DfT claims some 200,000 drivers used the online scheme to tax vehicles in 2005 and that it was due to be extended in 2005 and 2006 as the expansion of the MoT computerisation allowed older vehicles to be included.

But the department told the committee that the MoT project was delayed ‘for further stringent testing’. The system is now live in all 19,500 garages in the UK, but still has performance issues.

The committee welcomed the move to increase electronic delivery of the department’s services, but expressed concern at its ability to implement the plans.

‘Government’s overall success in managing IT projects is notorious; frequently promise is oversold, delivery proves disappointing and schedules for completion are not worth the paper they are written on,’ says the report.

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