A debate has arisen among government agencies on the issue of selecting electronic documents.
In Uzbekistan, a serious debate has emerged between two state agencies regarding the introduction of digital versions of driver’s licenses, passports, and ID cards. This was reported by Zamin.uz.
While the State Inspectorate for Supervision of Safety in Industry and Mining insists that electronic documents are sufficient, the Road Traffic Safety Service under the Ministry of Internal Affairs rejects this and insists on maintaining the old procedure. This legal confusion is troubling millions of drivers.
The situation began with a video released by the State Inspectorate, which stated that drivers would only need to show their documents via phone in electronic form to traffic patrol officers.
Soon after, the Road Traffic Safety Service issued an official rebuttal, stating that drivers must carry the original plastic or paper versions of their documents. However, experts in the field discovered that the Service’s refusal relied on an outdated version of a government resolution.
According to amendments introduced to the current regulations by the Cabinet of Ministers’ resolution of May 21 of this year, which came into force on May 22, if documents are presented in their digital form via a special mobile application, traffic police officers are prohibited from demanding paper or plastic copies.
Here lies a contradiction between the Code of Administrative Responsibility and the government resolution. The Code still requires drivers to carry their documents on their person and states that failure to do so may result in a fine.
Legally, the Code holds higher authority than a government resolution. However, in our country, the supreme law above all others is the Constitution.
According to Article 20 of the Constitution, all ambiguities and contradictions in legislation must be interpreted in favor of the individual, not state bodies. Furthermore, the Constitution has the highest legal force and is applied directly.
Therefore, from a legal standpoint, fining a citizen for showing documents on their phone is unlawful. Although digital documents have long been equated with paper ones, responsible agencies continue to demand the old format.
If there had been will and determination among sector leaders, timely amendments could have been made to the Administrative Code as well, allowing this convenience to be fully implemented in practice. Delays in digitalization and challenges in implementing modern technologies are creating unnecessary difficulties for the public.
