The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has disclosed that it inherited a backlog of more than 440,000 pending driver’s licence applications — a development officials say posed both operational and security risks.

To address the situation, the Authority established a 24-hour operational centre to centralise licence processing and curb the risk of unauthorised access and fake licence issuance.

Speaking on Channel One TV on Friday, February 13, the DVLA’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Stephen Attuh, said the intervention has led to the clearance of about 400,000 applications.

“Upon assumption of office by the current CEO, we noticed that there were over 440,000 backlog licence applications. So what he did was to commission a 24-hour centre because we wanted to centralise the system due to its security nature, so that we do not have people gaining access to it and issuing fake licences.

“What we are looking at currently is to operate our regional offices on a 24-hour basis. However, not all offices can function the same way.

“For those areas that cannot run a 24-hour service, we operate an extended service running two shifts until we see high demand, then we roll it out fully.”

Despite the reported progress, Mr Attuh admitted that complaints persist from applicants who say they have been waiting since 2023 to receive their licences.

As part of the expanded measures, the DVLA has opened an additional 24-hour centre at Adenta. Similar round-the-clock operations are also running at the ports in Takoradi and Tema to ease congestion and accelerate processing.

The Authority maintains that the centralised system is critical to restoring efficiency and protecting the integrity of Ghana’s driver licensing regime.