Astana, 23 October. Astana prosecutors have uncovered an organised criminal group of employees of a specialised public service centre (specialised PSC) and middlemen whose scheme allowed 74 people to obtain driving licences in 2025 without genuinely passing their exams; the case has been sent to court and the licences of all 74 drivers have been revoked, Zakon.kz reports, citing the prosecutor's office.
According to investigators, the group's members divided their roles. Middlemen, colloquially known as "helpers", stood near the service centre and prompted candidates with answers to the theory questions. Centre employees entered knowingly false records in the database showing that a person had passed the practical driving test.
Six members of the group have been remanded in custody, three released on a written undertaking not to leave, and one placed under house arrest. The prosecutor's office did not say how much people paid or how much the participants earned in total. The names of the accused and their positions at the centre were not disclosed either: that will be decided by the court, and until a verdict they are presumed innocent.
For the 74 drivers the consequences were immediate: their licences have been revoked, and to drive legally again they will have to retake the exams. The statement does not say whether they themselves will face liability as participants in the scheme.
What it means: In Astana, the driving test could be bypassed: theory answers were whispered at the entrance and the practical test was "passed" by an entry in the database. The scheme has been uncovered, the case is in court and the 74 people who obtained licences this way have lost them.
Who benefits: All road users, since drivers who never proved they can drive have been taken off the road. People who pass their exams honestly face fewer shortcuts. The losers are the accused and their clients, who have lost both money and licences.
Background: Licence-selling schemes through service centres have been uncovered before: in December 2025 members of a group that sold licences worth 60 million tenge stood trial in Shymkent, and in February 2024 a similar scheme was exposed in Taraz.
List of sources used: Zakon.kz, Informburo.kz, NUR.KZ
Artificial intelligence was used in preparing this material.
