Daily Archives: Saturday, April 4, 2015

  • Non-English and non-Welsh speakers to be charged premium rate by DVLA

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Politics

    In what appears to be a last-ditch swipe against foreigners, motorists who don’t speak either English or Welsh and want to use DVLA’s translation service will pick up the costs under changes announced on 25th March 2015 (the day before Parliament was prorogued. Ed.) by Transport Minister Baroness Kramer.

    telephone
    Picture courtesy of Holger Ellgaard and Wikimedia Commons
    The changes, which take effect from 29th April 2015, mean callers who request a translation service will now pay for the cost of the call. Currently, the cost of providing a translation service is covered by DVLA.

    Transport Minister Baroness Kramer said: “The vast majority of calls to DVLA are either free or charged at local rate. However, it is only right that the cost of using translation services is paid for by those who use them. The change will help encourage individuals who don’t speak English very well to learn the language and also help when accessing government services.”

    Under the changes, those who need a translation service will need to call the premium rate numbers, which will be publicised by DVLA closer to the implementation date of 29th April.

    The numbers will be available from 8am to 7pm Monday to Friday and from 8am to 2pm on Saturday. Calling these telephone numbers will cost £1.03 per minute from a landline and may cost considerably more from a mobile.

    All other public calls to DVLA contact centre are either free or charged at local rate.

    Hat tip: Yelena McCafferty.