Status: 23.09.2021 11:32 a.m.
Just show your smartphone when checking your driver’s license? This should be possible in the future with the digital driver’s license. First of all, it should make it easier to use rental cars and car sharing via an app.
A digital version of the driver’s license can now be created online via an app. This was announced by the Federal Ministry of Transport. Accordingly, it is a first stage of the digital driver’s license: Further options and applications should be integrated in the future. Digitization should make it easier, for example, to rent a rental car or to use car sharing offers. First the “Passauer Neue Presse” reported about it.
Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) declared: “The digital driver’s license is coming.” The technology is in place, now it’s time to go into the applications. “The digital driver’s license has the potential to make the everyday life of drivers much easier. There is no need for time-consuming video checks of the driver’s license, for example for car sharing or rental cars; between loading the app and driving off, there is only one click on the digital driver’s license.”
Access via app
Access for the digital driver’s license is via the “ID Wallet” app. The digital document was developed by the Ministry of Transport in cooperation with the Federal Motor Transport Authority and the Federal Printing Office. In the first stage, card driving licenses can be downloaded to the smartphone in the app. The digital driver’s license is issued on the basis of the data from the central registers of the Federal Motor Transport Authority.
According to the ministry, BMW and Sixt are currently working on applications for using the digital driver’s license that could be used in the coming months. According to the ministry, the functions of the digital driver’s license will then be gradually expanded, right up to full equality with the classic card driver’s license. The Minister of Transport announced the introduction of the digital driving license in Germany at the end of October 2020.
Germany should become more digital
The digitization of official documents has long been an issue with the federal government. For example, a pilot project has been running since mid-May with Deutsche Bahn, Lufthansa, Bosch and BWI, the IT service provider for the German Armed Forces, whereby their employees can use an app to identify themselves when checking in at some hotels. However, the opposition has been criticizing for years that the digitalization of the administration in Germany is stalling.
According to the EU’s plans, identity cards, driving licenses, diplomas and other important documents should be digitally legally verifiable in the future.