Getting online access for licence renewal
For online driver’s licence renewals do you really have to go in to an actual DVDL location to ‘get a number’ to be able to renew your licence online? And if so, I think the DVDL have missed the point about online services! On the government e-services portal, it says, “ESID (required to register for online services): This is a unique identifier that you need in order to access your own personal data. It can be obtained from any Department of Vehicle and Driver’s Licensing location upon presentation of your Cayman Islands Driver’s Licence” Should they not offer a way to get this via online or phone?
Auntie’s answer: Actually, Department of Vehicle and Drivers’ Licensing staff will provide the ESID by phone, but the DVDL prefer not to do that, with good reason. An official with the department explained that when the online service began, staff only gave out the ESID in person. But now you can get your ESID on the phone “provided that (you) can answer the questions we ask, questions relating to (your) record/details held with DVDL”.
The need for confirmation of information seems completely reasonable to me. While the official noted he understood the position of the reader, he said, “All too often, DVDL receives calls from individuals who are trying to ascertain information about other drivers, information such as their contact details, etc. Therefore, we are very reluctant to openly supply any details over the phone (even the ESID #), unless we are totally satisfied that we are indeed talking to the individual whose record is in front of us.”
Again, I can’t take issue with that reasoning. In case you might be willing to stop by a DVDL office, though, you can get your ESID from the customer service counter instead of having to queue to ask a licensing officer.
Category: Ask Auntie, Vehicle Licensing Questions
Good luck with it, my online login worked for one transaction and now it is “server error xxx” all the time. Two years trying to get it fixed and I was finally told ‘they don’t know why it doesn’t work’ after numerous resets, password changes, different computers, different browsers. It is a useless system to me.