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Sixty-year-old Donovan Whyte wasn't pleased. The seasoned driver found himself smack in the middle of Jamaica's tech-forward shift, which involves the cessation of issuing physical motor vehicle registration certificates, decals or stickers.

At the Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) office in downtown Kingston yesterday, the first day of the rollout, Whyte did not hide his displeasure about the new electronic Motor Vehicle Registration Certificate (eMVRC).

"Mi wah back di sticker," he muttered, eyes fixed on his daughter as if the new digital registration system had just subjected him to a brutal case of bad drive.

As of Monday, July 21, TAJ officially ditched physical certificates and those familiar windshield decals. Now, motorists receive a digital certificate, via email that they can download, print, or store on their phones.

The new system enables customers to generate their eMVRCs online, eliminating the need to visit TAJ locations for printed documents.

However, for Whyte, it wasn't progress. It was pressure. After all he is 60 years old and everything around him is going digital.

His 36-year-old daughter, Kerrian Whyte, knows the challenge that going digital poses to older adults.

"While mi understand seh dem a try everything online, mi concerned bout the older folks, because a nuh everybody tech savvy," she told THE STAR as she helped her father navigate the online registration process.

Normally, Whyte would walk into a TAJ office and conduct his business. He has renewed the licences for his current motor vehicle on five previous occasions. For his sixth renewal, he took his daughter along, but it was not merely for the ride.

"That's why mi even come here with mi father, 'cause mi know seh him woulda have a hard time doing it for himself," she said.

But even she was not quite clear. After making the payment, confusion still clouded their faces.

"Mi nuh like this," Kerrian said bluntly. "It nuh straightforward. Right now, mi don't even know what to do."

A TAJ worker, hearing their frustration, pointed to Whyte's receipt -- where the Motor Vehicle Identification Number and certificate number were highlighted.

"This paper won't fade," the worker explained. "It can be shown to police if necessary."

PROCESS WASN'T SMOOTH

Kerrian was then coached, through the TAJ website, to email the certificate to her father's phone. But even that step wasn't smooth -- she had to refresh the page three times before it worked.

Despite being part of Generation Z, Kerrian does not like the system.

"Mi want him to have the paper itself, because mi nuh think him a guh can find it suh easy inna him phone," she said, adding that her next stop was a printery to get physical copies of the documents.

Her father, a Baby Boomer, has already made up his mind.

"Mi wah back di sticker. Mi want it back inna mi hand. Mi nuh wah nothing pan mi phone. If mi daughter neva deh here mi nuh know wah mi would a duh," he said.

Meanwhile, across the office, 28-year-old Celine Powell was adjusting just fine.

"Mi just come in because it's mi first time using it, and mi did wah sure seh mi do it right. But going forward, mi good, mi can handle it online," she said confidently.

Her friend, 40-year-old Ricardo Nembhard, wasn't so sure everyone would manage.

"Yuh si even though it nuh hard, people at certain age nah guh be able fi do this. So it good fi see seh dem have people a di tax office fi help."

Under the new regime, the validity periods for the eMVRC will expand from the usual six months or one year, to now also include an option for two years, depending on the motorist's preference. As part of the new electronic process, motorists will now be required to have a valid email address to get a new or renewed motor vehicle registration, whether the transaction is done at a tax office or online.

At the TAJ office in downtown Kingston yesterday, not everyone had even heard about the digital switch. One man in his late 50s, who had lost all his vehicle documents, was surprised -- but not displeased.

"Mi glad fi it, yes, because dat mean seh mi nah guh affi scrape off nuh old sticker or worry 'bout sticking on a new one," he said.