Vehicle Registration Online Gets Response
In what appears to be a bright spot for an often embattled state agency, thousands of Californians have flocked to the Internet to take advantage of the Department of Motor Vehicles’ new online registration program.
The state has collected more than $25 million from owners who registered 136,261 vehicles since the program began in April.
The number of users is expected to rise as more insurers--some of whom had been leery of the DMV’s computer system--prepare to offer the department electronic proof of their customers’ insurance, a necessary step for vehicle owners to register online.
“We have 15,000 people a month coming through the system,” said Maria Contreras-Sweet, secretary of the state’s Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.
The program’s performance has helped ease insurers’ concerns. Another previous obstacle--companies that do business nationally had not been provided with a compatible DMV computer linkup--is also being resolved.
“I think, over the next year, you’ll see more insurers added to the system and the number of policyholders registering online increasing significantly,” said Diane Colburn, a lobbyist for the Personal Insurance Federation of California.
Californians will soon also be able to use their computers to make DMV appointments and to buy annual state park licenses. A revamped state Web site is expected to be unveiled as early as Monday.
The Internet innovations are part of an effort by Gov. Gray Davis to use technology to improve government services.
The state has yet to reap any savings--for example, from staff reductions--from the DMV online registration program. And a $4 fee for using a credit card to pay online has put off some potential users. But the fact that the program has not been riddled with computer problems and is attracting users has quieted most skeptics.
In its review of Davis’ 1999-2000 budget, the independent legislative analyst’s office suggested that the DMV was biting off more than it could chew by launching the program, given the difficulties it has faced in its decade-long effort to replace its major computer databases.
Financial Value Still in Question
Steve Boilard, a senior analyst in the legislative office, said that although the program appears to be working, its financial viability remains to be seen. So far, the Department of Finance estimates that the state has invested $2.4 million in the program.
“What would make this program successful is if you move a large percentage of [registration] transactions out of the field offices and onto the Internet,” Boilard said. “Until that happens, you’re really not reducing any of the labor costs.”
A 1999 report issued by the DMV estimated that 350,000 owners would register online during 2000, according to Finance Department spokesman Sandy Harrison. It is unclear, he said, whether the figure was based on the assumption that the service would be offered to all owners.
Currently, only about a third of the state’s 28.5 million registered vehicles are eligible to participate in the program. Their insurers agreed to provide online proof of insurance to the DMV.
The companies include Mercury Insurance, the California State Automobile Assn. of Northern California and the California Automobile Assn. of Southern California. The three were recently joined by 21st Century Insurance.
State Farm Insurance and Farmers Insurance Group, meanwhile, are among the insurers working with the DMV to prepare for providing online proof of insurance for their customers.
Legislation that would have required all carriers to offer proof of insurance electronically to the DMV died in 1999 after it was bitterly opposed by the insurance industry, which adopted a wait-and-see approach.
“There were a lot of concerns about error rates,” Colburn said. “Companies didn’t want to jump into something that would be hurting their customers.”
Owners register online by logging on to www.dmv.ca.gov and typing in a special number included in the registration package they receive from the DMV in the mail, plus a credit card number. New tags may arrive in the owner’s mailbox in as little as two days, although turnaround time varies.
Smog Check stations already are linked by computer to the DMV and automatically notify the agency when a vehicle has passed inspection.
The $4 credit card fee that the state Legislature required the DMV to charge appears to be discouraging throngs of potential customers, however. After the agency began charging the fee July 1, the number of transactions dropped to 17,000 in July, compared with 22,000 in June.
DMV spokesman Bill Branch said that since the $4 fee was instituted the proportion of eligible users participating in the program has dropped from 5% to an average of 2.5%.
San Diego resident Peter Singer said he was set to register his wife’s Isuzu minivan online until he realized it would cost him $4.
“It was a big enough issue that I’d rather write a check,” Singer said. “I pay a lot of bills online now, but I’m certainly not going to do it if it’s going to cost me more money to make it more convenient for retailers or, in this case, the government.”
It’s possible, said Contreras-Sweet, that the DMV will be able to eliminate the fee, once the department realizes savings from the program.
Arun Baheti, California’s director of eGovernment, said the state is not planning to charge a fee for any of the new services that will be offered on its revamped site, which will allow users to purchase sportfishing licenses online or registered nurses to renew their licenses.
Users will be able create their own customized page for using the site. The state librarian got involved by helping to organize the site’s information in a structure that in tests has allowed users to find the information they seek in an average of three clicks.
“When they see this Web page,” Baheti said, “their reaction should be, ‘This doesn’t look like a government site.’ ”
