Digital vehicle registration document: Germany-wide pilot phase starts in April

The pilot phase for the digital vehicle registration document (DFZ) will begin in April, when the first users will be able to save their vehicle registration document on their smartphone using the vehicle registration document app. This was announced by Governikus, the company that provides the federal government's ID card app.

The “open pilot” is limited to 2,500 participants across Germany, the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) told heise online. There will be a call for registration at the end of March. “This serves to test the digital vehicle registration document under real conditions in a controlled environment. A limited number of participants will enable a targeted evaluation of the feedback, rapid troubleshooting and close support from the developers and authorities,” said a spokeswoman for the ministry.

Continue to carry paper documents for now

Thanks to an exceptional regulation, the pilot phase can already start now. The spokesperson also points out that the vehicle registration document will initially continue to be carried in paper format, “as not all police authorities may yet be aware of the change in the law”.

According to Federal Transport Minister Wissing, the basis for these and similar plans is the draft for the fifth law to amend the Road Traffic Act and other road traffic regulations. “The draft adapts road traffic law to modern requirements. In this way, we are successfully driving forward the digitalization of administrative processes,” said a delighted Wissing.

For the future, the draft is intended to create a legal basis for digitalization projects “that are currently already being developed at the BMDV”. In addition to the digital vehicle registration document, this also includes the digital driving license and other vehicle documents.

(mack)