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What you need to know about Norway’s new digital driving licence

The Local Norway
The Local Norway - [email protected]
What you need to know about Norway’s new digital driving licence
Photo: Screengrab/App Store

Drivers in Norway no longer need to carry a physical driving licence – they can simply download the app.

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The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Statens vegvesen, NPRA) has launched the Førerkort (Driving Licence) app, which, from October 1st, enables the 2.2 million motorists who have a Norwegian licence to download and display their identification digitally.

That means any driver asked by traffic police to provide their licence can do so via a smartphone screen.

“We have found that you can occasionally be unfortunate enough to get a 500 kroner fine because you left your driving licence at home, and there’s no real need for that in the modern age in which we live,” NPRA’s head of driving licences department Synnøve Vebostad told NRK.

The digital version will be just as valid as the physical form of the licence for documenting the right to drive a vehicle, Vebostad confirmed.

But it may not be approved as a form of ID in non-traffic-related situations, the NPRA website notes.

Additionally, it will only be valid in Norway, so drivers taking their cars to Sweden, Denmark or further afield will have to remember their physical licences. That is because no EU or EEA-wide standard for digital licences has yet been adopted.

Car rental (including in Norway) will also still require the physical licence for the time being.

For those who still prefer analogue options, there is no obligation to download the app.

“It’s up to you whether you activate the digital licence,” Vebostad said to NRK.

Norway is one of the first countries in Europe to introduce an online driving licence, according to NPRA.

“Norway began developing this after a number of other countries, but is probably the first in Europe to have an option that everyone can download. Work to develop this began 10 months ago,” the authority’s head of Traffic and Vehicles Bodil Dreyer Rønning said in a press statement.

The digital driving licence app can be downloaded free via Google Play and Apple Store, or by following the link on NPRA’s website. You’ll need versions 9.0 (iOS) or 6.0 (Android) or newer for the app to work.

To download it, you must already have the card-style driving licence (as opposed to an older paper version). It must be a valid Norwegian licence and you must have a Norwegian address. You will also have to give permission for NPRA to store your photograph digitally.

A ‘My page’ (‘Din side’) section of the app will display the vehicle classes you are licensed to drive. This will exactly reflect the information on your regular licence.

READ ALSO: Norwegian driver loses licence for not scraping ice from window

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