The state motor vehicles department will close for five days in August to stitch together various databases as part of a major information-technology upgrade, including new online services, authorities say.
The shutdown – except for licensing services – will take place from Tuesday, Aug. 11 through Sat., Aug. 15, with all offices reopening for all transaction during their regular office schedules on Mon., Aug. 18, Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Commissioner Andres Ayala Jr. said Wednesday.
To help ease the effects of the shutdown and bringing up a new system, beginning Aug. 11, the Ayala says he has ordered that the expiration date of all driver’s licenses, ID cards or vehicle registrations be extended through Oct. 10, 2015. Renewals can be done without a late fee until that date.
AAA offices will also be open during the DMV shutdown period for license and ID card renewals.
However, emissions test due dates have not been extended, and all compliance issues remain unaffected by the extension. All customers who take advantage of the registration extension must maintain insurance coverage on their vehicles.
The agency’s shutdown will allow for the integration of databases and the transfer of technology from one system to the next, as well as the testing of various components of the system to ensure they work as designed, Ayala said. This cannot be done while the agency conducts transactions and needs to be done during the business work day.
Beginning Aug. 17, DMV on its website (ct.gov/dmv) will offer the following new online services:
- Improvements to the existing online registration renewal program
- Online checking for items, such as unpaid property taxes, lack of insurance, delinquent parking violations, which can hold up a registration renewal and cause repeat trips to DMV
- Reprinting a registration certificate from a home or other computer
- Cancelling a registration online
- Ordering online special plates, such as vanity plates
- Ordering online replacements for damaged plates
- Providing customers with an option for DMV to contact them either by mail or e-mail
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