Speaking to The Malta Business Weekly, the head of Minister Gatt’s secretariat, Claudio Grech, said that the framework is a real first for government on-line systems in Europe.
“The MITTS developers did a superb job. The framework provides a seamless operation to clients despite including the required input from at least four different sources, which include insurances, VRT stations, the law enforcement system and the ADT, to enable the renewal of a vehicle licence,” said Mr Grech.
“The government will continuously maintain the on-line system that has been purposely designed for insurance agencies and brokers. It will enable customers to renew their vehicle licence either through their insurance company while paying for their insurance policy or by accessing the system on-line and paying their licence themselves by using a debit or credit card,” added Mr Grech.
“The on-line vehicle licence renewal system took over a year to develop at a cost of Lm0.25m. Furthermore, the system was specifically developed to help the insurance agencies and brokers facilitate on-line renewal of vehicle licences for their customers,” said Mr Grech.
The on-line system only requires three steps to complete and each step requires straightforward information that is available on every insurance policy such as vehicle registration number, policy number and ID card.
Asked to comment on rumours that insurance companies are expecting a payment fee of Lm1 per transaction to operate the system, Mr Grech confirmed that a fee of Lm1 was proposed for every licence renewed on-line from their agencies.
“This proposal potentially added a cost of Lm0.25m to be forked out by the government. This will not make any financial sense especially when considering that the government invested Lm0.25m to set-up the system while insurance companies are not required to make any investment. Besides, the on-line system has been designed to reduce costs rather than increase overheads. After all, the scope of e-government is providing excellent public services at a lower cost to the tax payer,” said Mr Grech.
“This system was primarily designed to reduce the inconvenience of having to queue to pay their vehicle licences. The current system requires clients to renew their insurance policy and subsequently visit the Licensing and Testing Department to renew their vehicle licence. Some insurance agencies and brokers provided an added service by sending someone to the Licensing Department to renew the vehicle licences for their clients,” added Mr Grech.
He added that with the on-line system, this procedure will be simplified as all insurers will have the possibility of registering the renewal of insurance policies in real time from their office. This will permit clients to renew their vehicle licence on-line and avoid queuing. Besides, insurance companies will also be able to issue vehicle licences immediately as an added benefit for their clients.
The system is capable of logging instantly every vehicle insurance policy that is renewed or taken out new to enable the issuing of a vehicle licence. According to the Laws of Malta, a vehicle licence cannot be issued unless an insurance policy covers that vehicle.
When asked whether the insurance sector is expected to make any investments to adopt this on-line system, Mr Grech said that no investment is required as the system will be made available at no cost to the companies.
“The government has also committed itself to train insurance personnel that will be using the system during insurance policy renewals. All insurance companies require is a PC connected to the internet,” said Mr Grech.
“The government has also bought the necessary security digital certificates to avoid any investment requirement by the insurance companies while ensuring that maximum protection is offered to clients. These certificates will also be renewed by the government on a yearly basis for on-going security,” added Mr Grech.
“Insurance brokers have already received the required training to operate the system and should be able to offer the service by end of October. Insurance agencies, are in the process of determining those employees that will require training. The system is practically complete from e-government side and we are waiting for the Malta Insurance Association to formally advise when to officially launch on-line vehicle licence renewal,” said Mr Grech.
Contacted by this newspaper, the director general of the Malta Insurance Association, Dr Anton Felice said that the association has had close consultations with the government to ensure that the on-line system is effective and foolproof.
“In October 2001, the Malta Insurance Association had prepared a report on the possibility of an on-line payment system for vehicle licences that is similar to what is being proposed by the government,” said Dr Felice.
“The MIA is in favour of on-line renewal of vehicle licences and insurance policies. However, it ensured that certain issues posed by the Law were amended to provide a wider scope for this on-line system which should be launched soon,” added Dr Felice.
“The MIA has been working with government to ensure that insurance policies are paid prior to renewal of a vehicle licence. Obviously customers have to prove that their insurance is paid prior to obtaining their new vehicle licence. This is a safeguard to guarantee that no vehicle is driven without adequate cover for injuries or losses to third parties,” said Dr Felice.
“Discussions are currently being held to work out how insurance companies can update the Licensing and Testing Department about those insurance policies that are renewed. A central database, the Motor Insurance Information Database, will be set-up and will include up-to-date details about all registered vehicles and the insurance policy holders cover they hold. This should ensure an efficient vehicle licence renewal for owners,” explained Dr Felice.
“Another concern that the MIA has is credit risk especially when payment is effected through cheques. Fraudulent cheques are not the norm. However, it is the exception that disrupts the system. The MIA wants to ensure that insurance companies are not defrauded of the money due to government for licence renewals. Thus, the MIA will instruct its members to accept only cash or credit card payments for vehicle licence renewals,” said Dr Felice.
Quelle: The Malta Business Weekly
