The two-year renewal period of the driver’s license for people 65 years of age or older is illegal, since it is not established in Law 63-17 of Mobility, Land Transportation, Traffic and Road Safety of the Dominican Republic .
Article 208 of the aforementioned legislation establishes that: “The driver’s license will be issued for a period of 4 years and will expire on the holder’s birthday.”
However, contradictorily, the regulations applying said law say in article 21: “The terms of validity of the license and authorizations to drive will be the following: a) For categories 01, 02 and 05, the period of validity will be 4 years until its owner turns 65, from 65 years of age, the validity will be 2 years.”
The regulations are contained in decree 6-19, signed by then-president Danilo Medina, on January 8, 2019.
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In the legal framework of the country, the laws prevail over the regulations or ordinances, so limiting the renewal of the license to two years is illegal by imposing rules on the law.
A series of works that El Nacional has been carrying out describe the discrimination and violation of the Constitution of the Republic incurred by the National Institute of Transit and Land Transportation (Intrant) by limiting the renewal of the driver’s license to two years for people 65 years of age and older.
In these works, El Nacional has warned that such actions violate article 39 of the Constitution of the Republic, which says: “all people are born free and equal before the law, they receive the same protection and treatment from institutions, authorities and others. people and enjoy the same rights, freedoms and opportunities, without any discrimination based on gender, color, age, disability, nationality, family ties, language, religion, political or philosophical opinion, social or personal condition…”
El Nacional also tried to obtain the opinion on the matter from the National Council for the Aging (Conape), but so far it has not responded.
Intrant
The National Institute of Transit and Land Transportation (Intrant) reported that from now on they will evaluate and send to the Board of Directors of the organization a proposal for the tariff review of these services.
Milton Morrison, director of Intrant, reported that the limitations on the renewal of licenses for more than two years for adults aged 65 and older correspond to a provision provided for in article 21 of decree 6-19, which dictates the Regulation of Driver’s Licenses.
He said the provision is designed to ensure road safety, given the nature of the physical and cognitive changes that many people can experience with age.
In response to questions about the measure, regarding the charging of an amount equivalent to double for the renewal of licenses for people over 65 years of age, he clarified that the amounts are the same as for any applicant, according to the category of the required license.
The Law
Article 208 of Law 63-17 establishes that: “the driver’s license will be issued for a period of 4 years and will expire on the holder’s birthday.” However, seniors aged 65 and older are only being renewed for 2 years and for the same price of 1,900 pesos that they charge those who renew for four years.
