Currently, the country is conducting a free replacement of old driver's licenses. Lifelong licenses can be exchanged without payment until February 15.
Text of the interview:
- Hello, Sadyr Nurgoyoevich. Recently, there has been much discussion in society regarding the replacement of driver's licenses. Conflicting rumors have emerged about whether old licenses need to be replaced and whether the deadlines will be extended. Why has this issue become relevant?
- The issue of driver's licenses has not been raised for almost three decades. Previously, our passports and licenses were produced abroad, which resulted in low-quality security features. Since last year, we have begun producing all state documents at our enterprise "Uchkun," including technical passports and license plates, which now have high quality.
There have been cases where migrants of other nationalities forged our old licenses and passports. Some of them are still used in Russia, and there have even been arrests of terrorists with fake Kyrgyz documents. These incidents have negatively affected the reputation of Kyrgyzstan.
We aim to completely eradicate the problem of forgery. Replacing all old driver's licenses with new ones will eliminate the possibility of using forged documents both within the country and beyond its borders.
Some citizens even buy fake licenses in Russia and use them in Kyrgyzstan. Therefore, an inventory of all licenses and official documents is currently being conducted to identify illegal ones.
The main goal of these measures is to ensure the safety of citizens and maintain the international authority of the country. That is why we decided to fully replace old licenses with new ones that cannot be forged.
- There are often questions about the validity periods of driver's licenses. Some are indefinite, but on "Tunduk," different expiration dates are indicated, such as 2027 and 2028. What should be done in this case?
- Let me explain. We are replacing both old ID cards and driver's licenses. If citizens plan to travel abroad or even use licenses only within the country, they should replace them with new ones. Some documents are so worn that they are difficult to read or recognize. Therefore, even indefinite licenses are subject to replacement.
The document replacement is carried out without days off, from 8:30 AM to 11:00 PM. Previously, a medical certificate No. 083 was required for the replacement of indefinite licenses, but now this process has been simplified, and such documents do not require a certificate. It is only required for those obtaining a license for the first time.
- For the convenience of citizens, the option to replace licenses through the "Tunduk" platform was created. However, there have been cases when the portal was not functioning. Why did system failures occur?
- Let's clarify the "Tunduk" system. Previous governments only talked about digitalization, but in practice, this area did not receive the necessary attention, and the servers were not powerful enough. A total of 122.5 million soms has been allocated from the Presidential Fund for the modernization of the "Tunduk" platform. Additionally, 9.5 million soms have been allocated from the republican budget for the first stage of modernization.
This will significantly improve the system's capabilities. Recent failures were caused by a sharp increase in the number of users, which created a load on the server. Work is ongoing to resolve these issues.
Citizens are advised to replace their old ID passports and driver's licenses with new ones as soon as possible. In the future, the international community must be assured of who is a citizen of Kyrgyzstan, and there should be no dark spots left in our country.
