The motor club which told the state earlier this month it would no longer be able to serve the general public revised its position Thursday and agreed to continue providing licensing services to the general public through the end of the year.
The announcement comes after Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy threatened legal action against AAA Northeast for failing to uphold a 60-day termination provision. The motor club said the increase in the number of public customers has harmed it ability to service its dues -paying members.
“Working together with legislators and state officials, AAA has agreed to serve all Connecticut drivers, beginning Monday October 18, 2016, and continuing through the end of the year while we discuss how the DMV partnership might be reshaped to meet the needs of both sides,” AAA Northeast President and CEO Mark Shaw said Thursday.
Malloy said he appreciated the company’s willingness to “join us at the table and discuss how to continue to serve the best interest of Connecticut drivers.”
The contract the Department of Motor Vehicles had with AAA Northeast is scheduled to expire at the end of the year. The motor club has eight offices in Branford, Danbury, Fairfield, Hamden, Milford, Norwalk, Stamford, and Waterbury.
AAA Northeast saw a spike in usage of its licensing services by the public this year when the Department of Motor Vehicles struggled with a computer upgrade that caused wait times to increase significantly at its offices.
When it announced it was ending the contract, earlier this month, AAA Northeast said it was necessary because the number of office transactions has nearly doubled and the number of non-member transactions has increased from 17 percent five years ago to almost 50 percent in 2016.
It said the Real ID program – a federally secure licensing requirement mandated by the Department of Homeland Security – has added as much as 50 percent to the time needed to complete the transactions. Coupled with the DMV’s computer woes, it created a situation that adversely affected the ability of AAA to deliver the high levels of service that our members have come to expect.
It said its dues-paying members were “negatively impacted by the increased volume and complexity of the registry transactions.”
However, the motor club said Thursday that it’s willing to sit down with the state to see if they can work on a resolution that’s mutually beneficial
“The continuation of this working partnership between AAA and the DMV will benefit both AAA members and non-members alike,” Malloy said Thursday, “I look forward to our ongoing, future conversations regarding a longer-term arrangement.”
