How the New Digital Vehicle Deregistration System Works

The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) has taken a significant step towards modernising and digitising the procedures related to the end-of-life of vehicles.

Through the recent publication of Instruction VEH 2022/29 and Directive Letter 01/2025, the DGT facilitates the voluntary digitisation of vehicle deregistration files, a key process carried out by Authorised Treatment Centres (CATs), commonly known as scrapyards.

This initiative, which allows CATs to fully digitise the documentation of deregistered vehicles, eliminates the need to physically store these documents for five years, as was previously required. Service providers will handle this task, significantly simplifying the work of scrapyards.

In this regard, the majority association of CATs in Spain, AEDRA, has just joined this initiative, which will allow scrapyards that voluntarily wish to use this tool to fully digitise the documentation of vehicles permanently deregistered. They will not even have to store this documentation, as service providers will take on this responsibility.

Meanwhile, the vehicle owner who goes to a CAT for scrapping can complete the entire legal deregistration process through a mobile application that includes signature authentication. Once the process is completed, they will receive a certificate via email.

According to AEDRA, this new possibility of digitally managing a vehicle's deregistration streamlines procedures and reduces the administrative burden for CATs, while eliminating the need to store large amounts of paper documentation.

Additionally, owners can carry out the procedure from their mobile phones and receive the documentation by email.

With this measure, the DGT states that it continues its commitment to the digitalisation of services and the simplification of procedures, improving the citizen experience and modernising the vehicle end-of-life treatment sector.