By GINNAH MINI
MOTOR Vehicle Insurance Limited (MVIL) has urged drivers in the National Capital District (NCD) to replace their existing MVIL driver licences with the new, more secure cards now being rolled out.
The new licences, launched yesterday, will be issued free of charge from Thursday, September 10, 2026, at the MVIL branch.
MVIL said the existing licences will be phased out by January 31, 2027, and encouraged all NCD drivers to obtain the new cards before the deadline.
The new licences feature enhanced security measures to help authorities easily identify fraudulent cards.
MVIL said the upgrade strengthens the integrity of the driver licensing system and reinforces its commitment to providing a secure and reliable service.
Speaking at the launching of the new driver license at MVIL Head office, MVIL Chief Executive Officer Bafino Koi said that after the launching and implementation of the new license card, MVIL will give those current license holders up to January 2027 to replace their license.
“The cost will be subsidized as part of our rollout program to actually enforce this, so those license holders that have MVIL-issued driver license need to come in as of today to surrender their license and then get a reprint at no cost,” Mr. Koi said.
Mr. Koi said that after January 2027, drivers will have to pay to get the new card.
He added that the reason for the new driver license if because of many fake license and car accidents.
“This driver license is a key area that we want to introduce with very secure features so that the driver on the road is correctly identified, correctly trained, and has necessary skills in terms of awareness on the road and the driver skills that they need to have before they are actually on the road driving,” Mr. Koi said.
The roll out of the new license has started in NCD and later rolled out to other provinces in the country.
Meanwhile, the Road Traffic Authority, Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary and MVIL will be able to use the new security features to verify the authenticity of driver licences.