Gov’t to introduce driving licence bill

The bill proposes to amend the Road Traffic Ordinance and related legislation.

The government has published the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2025 in the Gazette, which covers the implementation of an electronic driving licence (eDL).

The bill will be introduced into the Legislative Council for a first reading on 19 March.

The bill proposes to amend the Road Traffic Ordinance and related legislation to give holders of driving licences and driving instructors' licences an alternative option to producing a driving licence for examination or inspection when requested.

It would also allow holders to display their electronic licences on their smartphones via a specified electronic platform.

Whilst license holders may offer an eDL when requested, the eDL will not be a substitute for a physical driving licence, as driving licence holders will still be issued with a physical driving licence.

The government believes that implementing an eDL will bring greater convenience to some 2.5 million driving licence holders—especially commercial vehicle drivers, whose physical driving licences are more susceptible to damage due to frequent use.

Those who choose to use an eDL will be able to display it by logging on to a specified eDL mobile application on their smart phones via iAM Smart or the Transport Department's e-Licensing Portal.

To prevent eDL forgeries, the relevant application will be equipped with security features, including identity authentication and disablement of the screen capture function.