MOT garages across the country have now carried out 10 million MOT tests using the new online testing service since its launch on 26 June, 2015, the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) announced today.
The DVSA said new service allows more flexibility for garages as it does not require specialist IT equipment and can be used on mobile devices such as tablets. It is also 50 per cent cheaper for the DVSA to run than the old ‘MOT comp’ system, the statement added.
The DVSA said it was ‘continuing to develop the service as it gets feedback from users’. The service now allows immediate access to contingency codes when required, removing the need for garages to ring the MOT service desk.
Alex Fiddes, DVSA MOT group service manager, said: ‘With 10 million tests now successfully completed, we are confident that garages and their customers are now benefiting from a faster and more cost effective service.
‘The new service has significantly lower running costs, and crucially it is built around the needs of our customers. The development of the system doesn’t stop here. We will continue to work with users to understand how we can better meet their needs in the future – and we will continually develop the service to do that.’
Esmond Kielty, a member of the Vehicle Testing Station Council and CEO of Carlisle Auto Repairs Ltd, said: ‘I think the new service has moved us into the modern world, it’s faster and more user-friendly. It provides my testers with a reliable MOT system with flexibility about where they can record information; they are not stuck in one place in the garage because they can now use tablets.
‘As an owner I can order slots, as many or little as I want according to my business projections. I can also review MOT manuals and can do all this from home if it suits me.
‘I think the future looks good as this service will allow me and others in the trade to give our feedback so changes will reflect our needs. The old MOT comp system wouldn’t allow us to do this and it meant we had no power or influence on a service we use every working day.’
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