Is the new law on retaking traffic rules when replacing licenses from February 1st true?

Is the new law on retaking traffic rules when replacing a driver’s license true?

No. There is no such law as of May 30, 2021. But rumors about the possible introduction of a mandatory test of traffic rules knowledge when changing licenses are not without their roots - back in early 2021, the first rumors about such a change in the procedure for changing licenses appeared on the Internet.

The basis for the appearance of such rumors was the initiative of the Union of Driving Schools of Russia, which proposed such an idea to the government. Later, the head of the traffic police supported the idea. But this remains at the level of proposals for now.

For 2021, there is no law on mandatory re-examination when replacing licenses after expiration.

In particular, passing an exam is not required when replacing a device for the following reasons:

if the validity period of the rights, which is 10 years, has expired,
when changing rights due to a change of surname (marriage) or other personal data,
if the old driver's license has become damaged, lost, stolen, and so on.

What's happened?

In mid-January 2021, rumors began to spread on the Internet allegedly that a new law would be introduced on February 1 of the same year. To be more precise, there is a change in the corresponding Government Decree No. 1097 with the rules for issuing diplomas and taking exams.

Update as of December 21, 2018: New information has appeared on the Internet about the obligation to retake the traffic rules when replacing a license - supposedly the initiative will come into force in 2021. This is not true - we are only talking about the opinion of the head of the traffic police that this is a reasonable idea and this issue should be studied. But official changes and the entry into force of this amendment are still very far away. We monitor current information on this issue daily and will update the article with every innovation.

The new law was initiated by the Union of Driving Schools of Russia, which proposed to introduce a retake of the exam on traffic rules theory when replacing licenses after their expiration. That is, in fact, it turns out that every 10 years, motorists will be required to retake the theoretical exam of the traffic police. Whether this will happen in driving schools or in the examination department of the traffic police is not specified.

Today, the most difficult thing that is necessary when replacing a driver’s license is passing a medical examination. You are also required to pay a state fee of 2,000 rubles (1,600 rubles for an international license, and when paying through State Services a 30% discount is provided for both types of rights). If the new law is ever adopted, another most difficult procedure will be added - retaking the traffic rules when replacing licenses.

Please note that we are talking about re-examination only in cases of replacing a driver’s license due to its validity period of 10 years. When replacing a license due to loss, damage, or theft, you will not need to retake the traffic rules.

But where are the proofs?!

It's easy to prove! The rules for issuing a driver's license today are regulated by Government Decree No. 1097 of the Russian Federation, a quote from paragraph 29 of which says the following:

29. The issuance of a Russian national driver's license to replace a previously issued Russian national driver's license is carried out without passing exams and in the following cases:
a) upon expiration of the driver’s license;
b) when the personal data of its owner contained in the driver’s license changes;
c) if the driver’s license has become unusable for further use due to wear, damage or other reasons and the information specified in it (or in part of it) cannot be determined visually;
d) upon receipt of an application for the loss (theft) of a driver’s license;
e) when confirming that the driver of the vehicle has changes in health, including previously undetected medical indications or medical restrictions on driving a vehicle;
f) upon the will of the applicant before the expiration of the driver’s license.

You can read the current edition of PPRF No. 1097 at the link and, most importantly, check for new editions with changes on the procedure for passing the traffic rules exam when replacing your license according to the diagram below.

Another confirmation is the order in which such changes come into force. All of them must be published on the government portal. If you do not find such a publication in a search (you need to look for government regulations on making changes), then the change in the mandatory test of traffic rules knowledge has not been introduced and will not be introduced in the near future, and a retake is not necessary.

This is true?

No. In fact, there was indeed an offer from the Union of Driving Schools. But it didn’t go anywhere beyond just a proposal. That is, the new law on retaking traffic rules when replacing licenses from February 1, 2018 is not true.

There were no official publications about this on the legal information portal. Also, today there are no new editions of Resolution No. 1097.

The traffic police denied information about such an innovation. The new law was also criticized in the State Duma itself and was postponed indefinitely. The State Duma has the right to make changes to such regulatory documents as Resolutions of the Government of the Russian Federation.

As of May 27, 2021, the new bill on retaking the exam when replacing rights has not entered into force and is not in effect. You can exchange your license after 10 years without passing the traffic rules exam.

Nevertheless, thunder struck, and, judging by the history of legislative changes, such an innovation will periodically emerge in certain proposals to the authorities at the legislative level. Not on February 1, but sooner or later such a law will be adopted, albeit in a changed and clarified form.

Important note!

This article provides basic information, but each case is different.
In 92% of all situations there are important nuances that can affect the outcome of the entire case.
An experienced lawyer will study all the materials of the case and indicate in which direction to move.

Therefore, our website employs on-duty legal consultants who delve into each case and are aimed at solving it.

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When is the exam required?

In 2021, there are only 3 official situations when obtaining a driver’s license goes through traffic exams:

you will have to take an exam if you receive your license after deprivation (it does not matter whether you previously lost your old license or it is stored in the traffic police),
this will also be required when obtaining a driver’s license for the first time in your life,
your knowledge of the traffic rules will be checked by the traffic police if you exchange a foreign license for a Russian one

This is an exhaustive list of reasons when you have exams and you will definitely have to answer the questions on the tickets correctly.

In what cases do you need to take a traffic rules exam today?

Today, the number of cases when you have to pass a theoretical exam on knowledge of the Rules, as well as practical driving skills, is quite narrow - there are 3 such situations in total.
When you need to retake the traffic rules

Situation	What do you need to submit?	What else is needed?
Obtaining the right to drive for the first time in my life	Theoretical exam of traffic rules, site and “city”.	Medical certificate, state fee of 2000 rubles, training at a driving school.
Opening a new category	Theoretical exam of traffic rules, site and “city” (not in all cases)	Medical certificate, state fee of 2000 rubles, training at a driving school for the appropriate category (externship for 2021 was cancelled).
Obtaining rights after deprivation	Only theoretical traffic rules exam	Medical certificate if the deprivation was for alcohol, drugs or refusal of a medical examination; pay all traffic fines.

How to change your driver's license after the expiration date without retaking the traffic rules?

To replace your license if its 10-year service life has reached, you will need 5 documents:

Your passport,
old driver's license, if available,
certificate of passing a medical examination,
statement,
receipt of payment of the state duty for replacement.

As we have already indicated above, the change of rights due to the expiration of their validity period occurs without a mandatory test of knowledge of traffic rules in the form of a theoretical exam. This can be done in any division of the MREO traffic police, not necessarily at your registration address, as well as in the MFC.

You can submit an application through State Services. To do this, go to the appropriate page, fill out the form that opens, select a convenient time and address to visit the State Traffic Inspectorate and pay the state fee at a discount (1,400 rubles, 2,000 without a discount).

By the way, on the same page at the end you can see another “proof” - here it is indicated whether exams will be a mandatory component for replacing the right upon expiration.

Can I change it ahead of time?

Yes. In any case, a driver's license can be replaced before its expiration date. At the same time, there are no restrictions on the period, how much is left until the end. But here it is important to take into account 2 more subtleties:

if you do not bring a medical certificate, then you will be given a new license for the same period as the old ones (for example, if the old ones have six months left until the end, then the new ones will have the same six months),
If you pass a medical examination for your license and provide a certificate, you will be given a new license for another 10 years.

What if I’m late with a replacement?

Nothing bad will happen if you don’t drive. There is no penalty for the mere fact of being late with a replacement, because a driver’s license is not a mandatory document for all citizens. You just won’t have anything to prove your right to control. And you can apply to the traffic police to replace your license (you also don’t need to pass exams on knowledge of traffic rules) at least 20 years after the end of the previous ones - there is no delay in this matter and there cannot be, according to the law in force for 2021.

When replacing a foreign driver's license, you will have to take full exams at the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate

Indeed, exams when replacing a foreign driving license with a Russian driving license will have to be passed in full, as stated in paragraph 38 of Resolution 1097. But they need to be passed only in relation to the so-called “highest” category.

Let's give an example. The citizen has a foreign driver's license, which must be replaced with a Russian one. Let these foreign rights have categories:

D is the highest relative to all of the above. This means that you only need to pass the exams for D, and A, B and C will be automatically transferred to Russian driving license.

The number of exams and the procedure for conducting them in the presented case are exactly the same as when passing in other situations. In the example under consideration, the citizen, in accordance with paragraph 9 of Resolution 1097, will have to submit:

theory;
practice at the race track;
practice in the city.

And if, for example, the foreign license contains marks A and M, then the re-examination when replacing a foreign driving license with ours is carried out in category A (because it is higher in relation to M). Accordingly, the composition of the exams is as follows:

theory;
practice at the race track (no need to pass the city for motorcycles).

When will they introduce and will they even introduce exams for replacing licenses?

There is a possibility of this, and it is quite significant. This could happen in 2021 as well. We monitor changes and update the article to update it.

There are two reasons for the initiative to retake the traffic rules every 10 years (excluding the financial benefit of the driving school union itself as the initiator):

Traffic regulations change several times a year; so, many drivers are not even aware that, for example, the circle throughout Russia is the main road even without signs, and with regard to the attitude of car drivers to cyclists, the Rules have been completely changed;
in 10 years, any person will forget the rules of the road - especially against the backdrop of the fact that more people drive on the roads “by convention”.

But it is still too early to say that checking traffic rules when changing drivers will be introduced in the near future.

Features of retake in 2021

Since 2021, the Russian Federation has introduced new rules for taking exams for vehicle owners, which, in turn, has changed the procedure for obtaining a driver’s license. The innovations are designed to synchronize the passing of the traffic rules exam and the general testing procedure from the Ministry of Education.

The rules for obtaining a driving license in 2021 have changed, albeit slightly:

the right of “two mistakes” has not changed, but now in order to correct a mistake, you will have to answer 5 additional questions;
The exam time is limited: 20 minutes are given for the main part, 5 minutes for additional questions.

When taking tests, audio-video recording methods are actively used. Records are stored in a common database and, if necessary, retrieved and analyzed.