The Iowa Department of Transportation is now offering a new service online for drivers who have run into some trouble. DOT Motor Vehicles Division director, Mark Lowe, says it’s a service added to their “myMVD” portal on-line.
“For people who have had their license suspended or revoked, they often have what’s called a civil penalty — which is a monetary amount that they have to pay before they can reinstate their license. And now you can go online, enter your information and find out do I owe any civil penalties, what the amounts are, and then organize your payment of those,” Lowe says.
He says you need some simple information to pay on-line with a credit or debit card — your first and last name, driver’s license number, date of birth and the last four digits of you Social Security number. There is a $1.50 service charge for credit and debit card processing costs is added to the payment.
Lowe says it’s a convenience for those who need to pay the penalties. “I know that we have in any given year, certainly more than 25,000 people that may be suspended or revoked at any given time, so for every one of those there’s usually an associated civil penalty. So, there is a decent number of people that could find use for the service,” according to Lowe.
He says you should be sure that you are going to the right website. Lowe says some sites go by a DMV name and will charge you for services that the state offers for free.
You can access the site by going to: mymvd.iowadot.gov.