Drumheller Registry is urging residents to sign up for electronic reminders to renew their driver licences and vehicle registration.
This comes after recent changes by the Alberta government to no longer send out hard copies of renewal reminders. Owner of Drumheller Registry Doug McKay says it could cut into customer convenience.
“For every vehicle they own, our customers would get a regenerated renewal form, which is much quicker and a lot less paperwork for us,” said McKay. “Once they stop sending these out, we will be printing out every renewal form in the office.
The government announced the changes on March 2, noting it will save taxpayers $3 million a year.
“During these tough economic times, it’s particularly important for government to find smart ways to save taxpayers’ money,” said Danielle Larivee, Acting Minister of Service Alberta. “Moving from printed to electronic notices will save Alberta taxpayers more than $3 million a year while providing more modern and convenient reminder options for drivers.”
The change come into effect on April 2016, however McKay says already some residents have found they did not receive their forms.
“People are already very disgruntled,” he said.
It also appears the e-reminder system is set up for personal names and not company names.
He says this could lead to residents forgetting to have their document renewed.
“The real kicker is that has always send those renewals letters out six weeks before they expire, now people are not going to have that,” he said.
This could lead to more people overlooking renewing their document and possibly leading to traffic tickets.
Residents wishing to receive e-reminders, the can go to www.drumhellerregistry.com and register to have reminders for their document either through e-mail or text message.
Albertans with disabilities will continue to receive their reminders through the mail. Residents over the age of 70 will receive mail reminders until April 2017.
For the registry, the renewal forms were convenient for customers because it generated all the needed information to perform the task. McKay urges residents who are coming in to use their service to bring all the pertinent documents such as an old registration card, or license plate number and proof of insurance.
This will help the registry agent process the document quickly, in an office that is already burdened.
“We are still working at the same rate as 11 years ago. We are in a regulated industry, so the government decides the rates,” said McKay. “All of our expenses for everything continues to go up and up, and we are still working at the same rates as 11 years ago.”
