DVLA pilots Alexa to enable customers to check MOT and vehicle tax status

Find out when your car's tax and MOT is due without even getting up from the sofa

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has launched an initiative to trial the use of Amazon's Alexa, the cloud-based voice assistant, so that customers can check their MOT and vehicle tax status using the devices.

Alexa, which was made popular by the Amazon Echo and the Amazon Echo dot, is capable of voice interaction, playing back media, making to-do lists and providing other real-time information including news.

DVLA wants to tap into Alexa's capabilities, so that when customers read out their vehicle registration to an Alexa-enabled device, Alexa can then read the information back, letting the customer know when their vehicle tax is due.

The specific product DVLA is using is known as ‘skill', and it is free to enable on the Alexa Skill Store.

Oliver Morley, DVLA's chief executive, said that he was really excited about trialling "an innovative skill that gives customers access to information about their vehicles".

"Providing choice in how people use our services is important to DVLA and by trialling this skill we are giving customers another way to get information quickly and easily - helping them to keep on top of their vehicle tax.

"This is another example of how we are always looking to test new ways of providing digital services to make things simpler and better for the UK's motorists," he said.

Earlier this month, the Met Office announced that it had been working on a Flash Briefing skill in the Alexa app. This would give users the ability to get the latest weather forecast from the Met Office.

"The way that people access the weather forecast is changing and it's important that we stay ahead of the curve by providing innovative new ways in which people can access our trusted forecasts," Met Office informatics specialist Niall Robinson said at the time.

"The Alexa skill is a fantastic new way to bring our weather forecast into the modern home," he added.