Hundreds of ‘dodgy’ driving test bookings were scrapped this week after rules were tightened to clamp down on touts making money by booking and reselling slots.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) said it blocked 450 tests after detecting breaches to its regulations.
New rules mean it is easier to detect patterns of misuse, such as when a single payment card is used to purchase multiple tests for different learners, it added.
The agency wanted to make it harder for people using automated programmes – known as bots – to quickly book test slots as soon as they became available and resell them for profit.
Tests have a standard fee of £62, but a National Audit Office report published in December last year found learners were paying up to £500 to book a slot on the black market.
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Learners affected by the rule change have been issued refunds.
New measures introduced on Tuesday means the location of a test can now only be moved to one of the three centres nearest the initial booking.
This is aimed at reducing incidents of people booking a test regardless of its location, with no intention of using the slot.
A ban on driving instructors booking tests came into force on May 12, meaning tests can now only be booked and managed by learners.
More than 4,000 learners have been banned from making online bookings since then, as part of a crackdown on abuse of the system.
The DVSA also said its work has led to 17 test reselling apps being removed from major app stores.
Roads minister Simon Lightwood said: ‘Learners should be focusing on getting test-ready, not fighting an unfair booking system or paying over the odds to third-party touts.
‘That’s why DVSA’s action to cancel dodgy tests is so important.
‘By cancelling tests booked in breach of the rules and suspending access for those attempting to misuse the system, DVSA is sending a clear message that attempts to exploit learner drivers and profit from driving test appointments will not be tolerated.’
DVSA chief executive Beverley Warmington said: ‘We promised to make the driving test booking system fairer, and we have kept that promise.
‘These reforms were about making sure that driving tests go to genuine learners, not to those who profit from exploiting them.
‘Today’s action demonstrates that we have the tools and the determination to enforce the new rules.
‘We will keep monitoring, keep acting, and keep the pressure on anyone who tries to circumvent the system.’
Misuse of the system has been given as a major cause of the backlog of driving tests.
The DVSA said the average waiting time to book a test last month was nearly 22 weeks, compared with about five weeks in February 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic.
It added it has delivered more than 240,000 additional tests between June last year and May 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier.
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