Getting a driving licence will now cost over BD330

Manama : Now, getting a driving licence will cost you more, following a hike in the fees for training classes announced recently.

Each one-hour class costs BD7 now, instead of BD5 earlier, as per the decision issued by Interior Minister Lieutenant-General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa on Thursday. 

According to estimates, the cost of issuing a driving license will be more than BD330 now.

The mandatory training hours (22 hours) cost trainees BD154 now, which was BD110 previously. In case the trainee didn’t pass the exam he or she would be requested to take eight and six additional hours to be eligible for entering the second and third exams, respectively.

This means an additional BD98 in case the trainee failed the first two exams and passed the third, making the total training fees add up to BD252.

This excludes some fixed fees that includes the BD34.5 training licence issuance fee, the BD10 test fee, which will be paid thrice in case the trainee didn’t pass, and the BD20 drivers’ licence issuance fee. This makes it a total of BD336.5 for a trainee who failed the first two exams and passed the final one and had his or her license issued.

According to the latest data provided by the General Directorate of Traffic in May this year, around 35,000 trainees took the test in the first quarter of the year, while only 19,000 passed.

The directorate said in a statement publicised on Friday that the minister’s resolution comes within the framework of Interior Ministry’s efforts to improve the services of the driving training sector and to meet the aspiration of its employees and as an appreciation of the pioneering role played by the instructors in the field of driving training and qualifying citizens and residents to drive vehicles, in cooperation with the General Directorate of Traffic.