In specialised public service centres across Kazakhstan, there have been widespread problems with taking driving licence exams due to an update to the database of the "Avtomektep" Information System (AIS).
According to ORDA, driving school graduates are being prevented from taking their theory and practical exams due to a lack of data in the updated system. The problem reportedly affects residents of remote areas most acutely, who are forced to travel hundreds of kilometres to the nearest specialised centres.
"From 3:00 p.m. on 14 January, our students stopped having their documents accepted. Some of them had travelled 500–700 kilometres. People are confused and don't know what to do. Parents are demanding their money back, blaming us for the failure. I have been running a driving school for 30 years, but I have never seen such chaos!" said Zair Kulchukov, director of one of the training centres in Balkhash.
The NJSC "Government for Citizens" in the Karaganda region stated that the Administrative Police Committee had issued an instruction to accept students from 13 January only on the basis of electronic certificates of completion of driving school.
"We started accepting documents, but we began experiencing glitches with dates and numbers. They are incorrect because the database was updated and it does not accept old (paper) certificates," the statement reads.
It has become known that last November, heads of driving schools in Kazakhstan received a letter in which the Administrative Police Committee ordered them to submit student information for entry into the Avtomektep information system. Training centre administrators claim they provided all the information by the agreed deadline, however, according to them, the AIS platform raises suspicions.
"I think they are trying to force everyone into the electronic database of the AIS 'Avtomektep'. Actually, according to the order, this system should exist. But it should belong to the Ministry of Internal Affairs' structure, not a private organisation. The private organisation is not registered anywhere. That is, someone at the top of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is overseeing it, lobbying for the interests of a private organisation. We read the contract, which is eight pages long. It is a predatory contract. They have the right to change the terms, we have no right to add anything to it. For each student, we have to pay one thousand tenge for data storage, can you imagine? Although the talk was that it was a free programme. What will stop them from raising the fee later?" questioned driving school director Irina Biller.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the professional association for driver training, Sergei Mironov, believes that the new system could create corruption risks.
In his opinion, fictitious students who never studied could be entered into the database. These people would be allowed to take exams, which would harm the schools.
As driving school heads note, the issuing of electronic certificates is currently impossible because only paper documents have been approved by a Ministry of Internal Affairs order.
For reference, in March and April 2024, glitches in the electronic system were already observed in specialised centres. The first incident was linked to the regions switching to a new time zone, and the second, according to a statement from 'Government for Citizens', occurred on the side of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan.