North Carolina DMV tussles with vendor over driver’s license backlog
In a meeting on Thursday before the North Carolina House of Representatives, officials from the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles and its vendor, Idemia, tussled over who was responsible for the driver’s license backlog that has obstructed the delivery of identification cards to thousands of residents.
DMV Commissioner Wayne Goodwin blamed the technology vendor, which prints the state’s licenses, for a “glitch” in its software in which 2,150 people were able to renew their license online when access should have been restricted, forcing Idemia to stop production and collect the 2,150 cards by hand.
“What had been several days of stoppage had surprisingly turned into a 12-day backlog,” Goodwin said. “A stoppage of a few days turned into a backlog that inexplicably grew week by week.”
In response, Lisa Shoemaker, vice president for Idemia’s global corporate relations, said the DMV was responsible for the backlog because it didn’t agree with the vendor’s proposal for addressing the issue, which in her words, would have been a more “efficient solution.”
“DMV chose not to take Idemia’s proposed solution to address this backlog,” Shoemaker said. “Throughout this situation DMV made it abundantly clear that they did not value Idemia’s expertise and input.”
The DMV announced it will not renew its contract with Idemia, which ends on June 30, opting instead for a new contract with Canadian Bank Note Secure Technologies.
