DVLA’s services on Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa allow motorists to ask DVLA when their vehicle tax is due by providing the registration number. These services have been used over 47,000 times by more than 20,000 unique users since they launched 2 years ago.
While most people have asked when their tax is due, some have asked some slightly more unusual questions, including:
- how do you get chewing gum off a leather settee?
- how do I apply for Love Island?
- do you know a good vegan recipe for chicken?
- are red cars the fastest?
- what time is lunch?
- is it going to rain in Ellesmere Port today?
- what did you think of the Bumblebee movie?
- how can I stop my flatmate drinking my milk?
- where are my socks?
- is this rash normal?
DVLA Chief Executive Julie Lennard said:
We want motorists to be able use our services quickly and easily and voice assistants are becoming more and more popular. While some of the questions customers have asked us fall a little outside our area of expertise, we will continue to make our services simpler, better and safer.
Nearly 98% of interactions with DVLA are now carried out using DVLA’s digital services.
Anyone wishing to try out the Alexa Skill can download it, or if they have Google Home or Google Assistant on their phone or tablet they can ask it to “Talk to DVLA” or “Ask DVLA”.
Notes to editors
The Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa Skill allow customers to confirm details about their vehicle in the same way as they could by using the Vehicle Enquiry Service on GOV.UK.
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