NJ drivers warned: Your registration renewal may not have worked online

🚗 Some drivers who paid online may not have completed their renewal

🚗 MVC is not certain how many were affected

🚗 Some drivers have gotten tickets

If you tried to renew your registration at the New Jersey Motor Vehicles website in May, you may want to check that you completed it.

There are reports of some drivers getting tickets for having an unregistered vehicle even though they paid to renew online.

What happened?

NJ.com spoke to a woman who said she used the MVC website to pay to renew her registration. The website confirmed the payment transaction.

It was not until she got a ticket in the mail for parking an unregistered vehicle that she realized something was wrong. When she went to an MVC office, they confirmed her vehicle was not registered, but could not explain why, NJ.com reported.

The explanation

MVC officials say users with certain older browsers began timing out after the MVC updated its software in mid-May. The problem was addressed after a few days.

"Upon investigation, we discovered that these transactions were timing out before backend MVC systems could generate their registration renewal due to a JavaScript setting in some customer browsers, and some of these customers were closing out their browsers before the transaction was completed," an MVC spokesman said in a statement to the media.

The MVC says if you received your registration in the mail or received electronic proof via email after renewing online, it is valid.

"With the completion of an online registration renewal transaction, the customer should receive a paper copy of the registration card through the mail at their address and an electronic proof of registration via email (if a valid email address is provided during the transaction)," the MVC spokesman said.

"A payment receipt alone does not constitute an official registration document from MVC."

The MVC is not proactively contacting people who may have been affected.

"We do not have a clear count of affected customers," the MVC said. "Due to the sporadic reports received from customers, and the nature of the problem our IT team identified with the browser settings, we do not believe it was a significant number."

It comes at a bad time

News of the glitch is not a good look for the MVC which is in the midst of a media campaign to get more customers to conduct routine business on their website.

The MVC is running ads urging folks to skip the trip and try their online services.

The number of services being offered on the website has been increased in an attempt to ease backlogs at physical MVC agencies.

What can I do?

If you believe you completed an online registration renewal in May 2023, you may want to verify that you received your new registration.

"If the customer completes the transaction and receives the renewed registration document, their registration is valid," the MVC spokesman said.

You will find email and other contact information for the MVC HERE.

What will the MVC do?

If it is found that your registration was not renewed even after your payment went through, the MVC will provide instructions on how to complete a valid registration renewal.

If you have already paid a renewal fee, you may have to pay again and the MVC will process a refund.

If you have gotten a ticket for not having a valid New Jersey registration, the MVC will furnish a letter you can provide to the court to have the ticket dismissed.

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