Due to overcrowding in offices, Prague is asking drivers to register for licenses online

People getting or renewing driver’s licenses should try to avoid the registry office in Business Center Vyšehrad, which has become quite overcrowded.

Prague City Hall is asking applicants to use the online reservation system to book an appointment time to visit or take advantage of the new possibility to apply for a driver’s license electronically via the Transport Portal (Portál dopravy). People can also avoid long waits by using other offices than the one in Vyšehrad.

Prague drivers can avoid unnecessary waiting in lines by taking one of those steps, which currently are often overlooked, City Hall said in a press release.

The newly launched Transport Portal (Portál dopravy) can be used for electronic submission of an application for renewing a driver's license when it is about to expire as well as replacing a stolen or lost license or changing personal data.

The portal was launched in December 2022. People can log into it with a bank ID, e-government key, eObčanka, or another form of verified identification. Drivers can obtain statements on how many traffic violations they have, access the vehicle registry, or buy highway stickers via the portal. Other functions will be added this year. The portal is part of the Czech government’s plan to put services online.

This year, licenses will expire for 875,424 drivers in Czechia. This is twice as many as last year, according to news server E15. This is because licenses are valid for 10 years, and there was a change in the law in 2013 that required a lot of drivers to exchange their licenses then.

In the future, though, people who have a Czech ID card might not even need a separate driver’s license, as with digitization, the police can use your ID card to see if you are in the registry of drivers. This should take effect on Jan. 1, 2025.