Dodgers won’t be able to get driver’s licenses

Citizens who dodge military drafts will not be able to take the driving test and renew their driver’s licenses. This was reported in the leadership of the traffic police of the Russian Federation. Earlier, a law was passed on the creation of a unified digital register of persons liable for military service, according to which, in addition to the ban on driving a car, draft dodgers may be prohibited from entering into real estate transactions and obtaining loans. The order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs clarifying the procedure for the ban will come into force on July 11. The State Traffic Inspectorate also announced the preparation of a draft government decree jointly with the Ministry of Transport on the equalization of digital and paper driver’s licenses, but did not name the deadlines for the approval of this document.

The fact that draft evaders in the armed forces of the Russian Federation will not be able to take exams for obtaining a driver’s license, said the head of the traffic police of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Chernikov: “We have an integrated database. We see those who did not appear (to the draft board.— “b”), in the general federal information system. Such citizens will not be provided with public services. They will not be able to replace the driver’s license, or get it again, or carry out any registration and examination actions.

In April 2023, the State Duma and the Federation Council accepted, and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law providing for the creation of a digital registry of military records and an integrated registry of summonses sent to citizens. Citizens, in particular, will be able to call to the military registration and enlistment office through the public services portal, limiting their exit from the country until they appear at the military registration and enlistment office. Dodgers may also be prohibited from driving a car, entering into real estate transactions, obtaining bank loans and registering individual entrepreneurs. At the same time, according to the law, a citizen who did not appear at the military registration and enlistment office within 20 days from the date of receipt of the summons can be considered a deviationist.

On June 21, it was signed at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, and on July 3 it was published order No. 426clarifying “the procedure for restricting the right to drive vehicles.”

The document prescribes to enter information on restrictions on citizens received from the digital register of military registration into the federal information system of the traffic police within 24 hours. It is also expected to cancel restrictions on driving a vehicle within 24 hours – “from the moment the decision of the draft commission is received” by the territorial body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. The order comes into force on July 11, 2023. Head of the Ministry of Digital Development Maksut Shadayev earlier assumedthat it will be possible to launch the military registration register in full no earlier than the start of the autumn military conscription in 2023.

Mikhail Chernikov also announced the preparation of a draft government decree on the equalization of digital and paper driver’s documents. Note that digital certificates are available in the application “Gosuslugi.Avto” (uses data from the public services portal). This application appeared back in 2021, since then it has been downloaded by more than 4.5 million citizens. Users can generate a QR code as an electronic version of a driver’s license or CTC to show to an inspector.

However, QR codes and the application are not mentioned in the current traffic rules. On March 1, 2023, the amendments entered into force, providing for the possibility of presenting digital rights and STS in the future (without the original) – “if they are issued in electronic form in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.” In other words, there should be a law that fixes the status of QR codes. Such amendments to the State Duma have not yet been introduced. At the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation explained that the application is still being used as an experiment: the obligation to carry original documents with you has not been removed. According to Mr. Chernikov, the digitalization of driver’s licenses and STS allowed guards to “check documents more reliably and thoroughly.” The head of the traffic police also made it clear that the department is working together with the Ministry of Transport on the relevant changes in traffic rules (approved by a decree of the government of the Russian Federation). But when the approvals are over, and drivers will finally be able to present QR codes, he did not specify.

“The draft resolution has been developed and passed interdepartmental coordination and is being prepared for submission to the government,” they said. “RIA News” in the apparatus of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Chernyshenko. “We expect that he will be sent in the coming days.”

Alexander Voronov