DMV Online

When I received my annual registration papers in the mail, I was pleased to see that the DMV had advanced to using the Internet for online renewals. I thought it would be a convenient and fun way to make the payment. I even logged on and was ready to pay the fees two months before they were due. Then I discovered that for renewing online, DMV charges a “$4 convenience fee.” I immediately aborted my plan to pay my renewal online.

If DMV officials truly want to encourage motorists to engage in paperless renewals that clearly reduce the work and resources of the DMV, they should, at minimum, eliminate the so-called convenience fee. If it is really serious about streamlining the process and reducing the workload, the DMV should even offer a discount, as opposed to this unnecessary surcharge. It simply makes more sense to me to write a check, save the $4 fee and pay the 33 cents in postage.

PETER W. SINGER

San Diego