Subsequently, the authority registered 25,101 vehicles across its offices in the country using the online platform, bringing the total number of vehicles in the country to 3.47 million.

In September last year, the DVLA phased out the manual registration of vehicles and transitioned to online registration in a major reform to improve turnaround time, transparency and remove the human interface.

However, some people have complained that the new system is cumbersome and is only compatible with certain mobile devices.

DVLA’s Deputy Director of Vehicle Inspection and Registration, Eric Addison, made this known to the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday.

Statistics made available to the Daily Graphic showed that the vehicles that were registered in January this year comprised 12,101 cars, 8,206 motorbikes and 4,674 tricycles.

A breakdown of the statistics showed that the Greater Accra Region registered 10,408 vehicles at the 37, Tema and Weija offices, and the DVLA headquarters, while Kumasi followed with 6,408 vehicle registrations.

The Wa office in the Upper West Region also registered 1,173 vehicles, with the other centres across the remaining regions registering below 1,000 vehicles in all.

Reforms

Mr Addison explained that the migration to the online platform was meant to secure data and ensure that the DVLA's data was plugged into other national databases such as the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, the National Security and the National Identification Authority (NIA).

He said the authority had successfully integrated its data with GRA's Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMs) as well as the National Identification Authority (NIA).

“This will ensure that vehicles are profiled for the necessary duties and taxes to be paid and also establish the identity of the owner of the vehicle,” Mr Addison said. 

Challenges

When the DVLA began the registration of vehicles this year, members of the public raised concerns about the cumbersome procedures involved in getting their vehicles registered.

Some members of the public who went to the offices of the DVLA to register their vehicles complained that the requirement to use the Ghana Card as the sole document for identity verification was a major hurdle.

It was particularly so because importers domiciled in foreign countries who did not have the Ghana Card could not have their identities established.

Among other concerns, some of the people intending to register their vehicles told the Daily Graphic that the online platform the DVLA deployed for the registration was not compatible with many mobile phone brands.

Challenges resolved

While acknowledging those concerns, Mr Addison said the DVLA had taken steps to address them.

“As a new system, we anticipated that there were going to be challenges.

As an authority, we have seen these challenges and went on to address them.

And that is why we have been able to register over 25,000 vehicles so far,” he said.

DVLA’s Deputy Director of Vehicle Inspection and Registration said the introduction of the Ghana Card as the sole document was meant to protect the interest of the vehicle importer and the prospective vehicle owner, especially from falling victim to fraudulent transactions.

Mr Addison said the DVLA had bridged that gap by getting additional documentation to complement the Ghana Card requirement for registration.

“One of the documentation the DVLA is looking for is an order from the court to indemnify the authority for us to continue the registration.

And for vehicle importers that are domiciled out of the country, we expect the vehicle owners to give us the biodata page of their passports and also provide an authorisation letter,” he explained.

He said the DVLA had provided a secure link through which such persons could send the documents.

Caution

Mr Addison, however, cautioned members of the public to ensure that they did a proper change of ownership of vehicles as required by law.

“Regulation 17 of the Road Traffic Regulations provides that if you buy a vehicle, you need to inform the DVLA within 14 days but people have bought vehicles for about five years without doing so and this is worrying,” he said.

Mr Addison said people losing touch with the importers from whom they bought vehicles for up to five years had been one of the challenges the DVLA faced.