Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
Head of Data Sharing / FOI Team – D16
Corporate Affairs Directorate
DVLA
Longview Road
Swansea
SA6 7JL
Mr Jason Taylor
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Email
xxx@xxxx.xxx.xxx.xx
Website
www.direct.gov.uk/motoring
Your Ref
Our Ref
FOIR2316
Date:
2 March 2010
Dear Mr Taylor
Freedom of Information Request
Thank you for your e-mail of 14 February requesting information under the terms of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
You asked:
1. How much does it cost the DVLA to process a credit card payment?
The average cost to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) for processing a
credit card payment for Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) paid online ranges from £1.87 to
£4.65. The cost incurred depends on the type of payment card used and the amount of
VED collected.
2. How much does it cost the DVLA to process a debit card payment?
The average cost to DVLA for processing a debit card payment for VED paid online ranges
from £0.15 to £0.27. Again, the cost incurred depends on the type of payment card used
and the amount of VED paid.
3. How many £2.50 'processing' fees does the DVLA levy in a typical month/year?
The total number of such charges levied during 2009-10 was 3,422,021.
4. Why is there a charge for using a credit card, but not a debit card?
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The cost of processing a credit card payment is far in excess of the cost of processing a
debit card payment of the same value. The DVLA introduced the credit card convenience
charge to cover the additional costs of bringing in the option to pay VED by credit card.
The DVLA does not have an alternative funding source to cover the costs of the credit card
charges and would have been unable to offer the customer the additional flexibility to pay
their VED by credit card without the introduction of a charge. The decision to introduce
the charge was made following a full public consultation with the flat fee being preferred to
a number of other options, including a percentage charge.
The information which follows concerns the copyright conditions that apply to any
information provided by the Agency and the procedures for making any complaint you
might have about the reply. Please quote the reference number of this letter in any future
communications about it.
Yours sincerely
Robert Toft
Head of Data Sharing/FOI Team
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PROCEDURES FOR HANDLING FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUESTS
Copyright Conditions The information supplied to you continues to be protected by copyright. You are free to use
it for your own purposes, including for private study and non-commercial research, and for
any other purpose authorised by an exception in current copyright law. Documents (except
photographs) can be also used in the UK without requiring permission for the purposes of
news reporting. Any other re-use, for example, commercial publication, would require the
permission of the copyright holder.
Most documents produced by a government department or DVLA will be protected by
Crown Copyright. Most Crown Copyright information can be re-used under the Open
Government Licence (OGL) (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-
licence/). For information about the OGL and about re-using Crown Copyright information
please see The National Archives website at
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/information-management/uk-gov-licensing-
framework.htm
Copyright in other documents may rest with a third party. For information about obtaining
permission from a third party, see the Intellectual Property Office’s website at
www.ipo.gov.uk
Complaints If you are unhappy with the way in which your request for information has been handled,
about the decision not to disclose all or part of the information requested and/or that the
DVLA has not complied with its FOI publication scheme, you have the right to complain
within two calendar months of the date of this letter. You may complain by writing to the
Freedom of Information Team, DSPG/FOI, D16, DVLA, Swansea, SA6 7JL or e-mail
xxx@xxxx.xxx.xxx.xx.
Your complaint will be acknowledged and you will be advised of a date by which you
should have received a response. Initially, your complaint will be re-considered by the
official who dealt with your request for information. If, after careful consideration, that
person decides that his/her decision was correct, your complaint will automatically be
referred to an independent official who will conduct a further review (an Internal Review).
You will be advised of the outcome of your complaint and if a decision is taken to disclose
information originally withheld this will be done as soon as possible.
If you are not content with the outcome of the Internal Review, you have the right to apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision by writing to the Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
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