The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has opened a new office at Effiduase in the Sekyere East District as part of efforts to take the services of the Authority closer to the people.

The commissioning of the Effiduase office brings to seven, the number of branches of the DVLA in the Ashanti Region.

Mr Prince Opoku Adusei, Deputy Chief Executive Officer in Charge of Operations, said the opening of new offices formed part of the Authority’s commitment to make its services accessible to the public.

He said by doing so, the DVLA was fulfilling its core mandate of contributing to road safety as drivers and vehicle owners would have little excuse for not having a license and roadworthy certificate.

He entreated the public to deal directly with accredited staff of DVLA when seeking for any of their services and cautioned that engaging middlemen could result in issuance of fake documents.

“It is our collective responsibility to ensure we do the right thing in acquiring licenses and other DVLA services as we contribute towards the reduction of road accidents”, he appealed.

He disclosed that the DVLA was taking steps to accredit selected eye centres to conduct eye testing on behalf of the Authority to ensure professional assessment of the eyes of license applicants.

“Applicants will check their eyes at the accredited eye centres who will forward the results to the DVLA even before the applicant arrives.

"This way, applicants would have the opportunity to treat other eye-related conditions whereas the DVLA would be well informed on their eligibility”, he explained.

Mr. Frank Davies, Board Chairman of the DVLA, said the establishment of new offices across the country was translating into impressive transformation in the scheme of operations of the Authority in recent times.

He said customer satisfaction was a key priority in the operations of the DVLA, saying that the introduction of the prestige and premium services attested to the desire of the Authority to provide quality services for clients.

“The 21st century customer deserves more than a service, but an atmosphere of cheer and delight in terms of good reception and service delivery”, the Board Chairman pointed out.

He reminded staff of the Authority that there was the need for a paradigm shift in the way they transact business by ensuring swift and warm reception towards clients.