 strict stance permitting a single practical driving test to be booked at any one time. A DVSA spokesman told the Mirror demand for driving tests has "exceeded availability". He added: "People are using bots and apps to buy tests and sell them for as much as £450. Some of this activity is being carried out by driving instructors (ADIs) using a DVSA system designed for instructors to book their pupils' tests." The government body last summer overhauled its application system for booking tests, to ensure only ADIs had access. Terms and conditions were updated to make it clear such behaviour could result in access being removed for certain people. Bot protection was also increased. Any new registrations on the DVSA system from companies not directly employed by a driving instructor have also been blocked, while around 4,500 accounts have been removed as part of the clean up. However, the spokesman reiterated: "It is not illegal to sell tests at a profit." And despite such measures being taken, Lauren Rachel Jones is among many learner drivers who have been unable to book a test for months. Have you been affected by this issue? Let us know at webnews@mirror.co.uk Her theory test certificate runs out in September, meaning she's in a race against time to pass her practical counterpart, having failed in){kind=link}
Lauren Rachel Jones is among many desperate learner drivers who have been unable to book tests for months, with ‘booking agents’ block booking available dates and selling them on Facebook
Driving test ‘rackets’ are being set up in which people are legally block booking dates and then selling them on for up to £450 online.
Dozens of Facebook pages and other sites are rapidly popping up, with people acting as booking agents able to hoover up any available slots â which on average cost £62 in the UK â to then sell to the highest bidder. Such individuals are understood to be using bots and other black market tricks to get around the Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) strict stance permitting a single practical driving test to be booked at any one time.
A DVSA spokesman told the Mirror demand for driving tests has “exceeded availability”. He added: “People are using bots and apps to buy tests and sell them for as much as £450. Some of this activity is being carried out by driving instructors (ADIs) using a DVSA system designed for instructors to book their pupils’ tests.”
The government body last summer overhauled its application system for booking tests, to ensure only ADIs had access. Terms and conditions were updated to make it clear such behaviour could result in access being removed for certain people. Bot protection was also increased.