Starting difficulties: i-Kfz struggles with low acceptance
(dpa/Car Whiz/KI) There is still a need for optimization in digital vehicle registration in Germany. Since September 1, 2023, over a million registration processes have been carried out digitally after the federal government created the framework for automated procedures. Despite this possibility, use is still limited: According to the Ministry of Transport, the usage rate of digital registration was only 7 percent nationwide in July.
T-Online was the first to report on the figures: Since the introduction of the i-Kfz portals a year ago, a total of 23.75 million vehicle registrations, deregistrations or re-registrations have been registered, of which around 1.1 million were processed via these portals. This corresponds to less than 5 percent of the total transactions. Usage varies greatly between municipalities. In Ingolstadt, for example, more than 20 percent of transactions are handled digitally, while in cities such as Neumünster, Leverkusen and Lübeck the rate is less than 0.2 percent. 53 municipalities do not yet offer the i-Kfz portal.
Transport Minister Volker Wissing has called on municipalities to offer the digital service quickly and to promote it more in order to relieve the burden on both citizens and employees. In addition, the fees for digital registrations have been reduced: an online registration costs 16.30 euros, whereas at the counter it costs 30.60 euros. Decommissioning costs 2.70 euros online and 16.80 euros at the counter.
Ulrich Dilchert, Managing Director of the Central Association of the German Automotive Industry, points out that “i-Kfz” is a complex system that requires close cooperation between the federal government, states and municipalities. He stressed that there were significant problems, particularly with the technical equipment, but sees an improvement in the situation in recent months. Nevertheless, there is still considerable room for improvement.
