Trans­port Com­mis­sion­er Clive Clark has de­nied claims that mo­torists who re­new their dri­ver’s per­mits late are be­ing barred from ac­cess­ing the 10-year li­cence op­tion, fol­low­ing pub­lic com­plaints of sharply in­creased costs and con­fu­sion at some li­cens­ing of­fices.

Clark was re­spond­ing to ques­tions from Guardian Me­dia af­ter dri­vers re­port­ed be­ing charged a $600 penal­ty for late re­newals and be­ing told that even a one-day de­lay au­to­mat­i­cal­ly dis­qual­i­fies them from re­new­ing for 10 years.

“To al­low once your li­cence ex­pires, late fees must be ap­plied. That is sec­tion 61A of the Mo­tor Ve­hi­cles and Road Traf­fic Act,” Clark said.