Vehicle registration can be improved

One of the banes of human interactions in business and service provision is the attendant corrupt practices that have denied the country of the needed revenue over the years.

In fact, the amount of money lost to the state as a result of the activities of so-called middlemen at areas such as the ports, the Births and Deaths Registry and the Driver and Vehicle
Licensing Authority (DVLA) will run into millions of cedis if proper estimates are done.

No wonder that any time the state attempts to reduce human interaction and dealing in some of these government agencies, the authorities are faced with stiff opposition from some elements in society whose shady activities that give them unearned money are threatened.

Benefits from a few of the initiatives introduced in recent times will suffice here. Automation at the ports has led to timeous and timely transactions, as figures suggest a significant reduction in the time and cost of doing business at the ports as a result of a reduction in the average turnaround time there. This will subsequently result in our ports being more competitive and efficient. The Daily Graphic notes that businesses had complained about cumbersome processes at the ports due to scarce automation processes.

The introduction of the smart card system by the DVLA also recorded an astronomical jump in revenue from its roadworthiness certificate renewals in January 2018.

The DVLA collected GH¢19.8 million from roadworthiness certificate renewals from January 1 to 25, last year, as against a little more than GH¢2.6 million recorded in January 2016 and GH¢2.7 million in January 2017, among other impressive numbers.

Per available figures, we mince no words in saying that it is only saboteurs, nation wreckers, the wicked and unpatriotic citizens who will work against the success of such laudable initiatives, as every patriotic Ghanaian would wish that technology is employed to make optimum use of our resources and rake in maximum revenue for development.

However, the Daily Graphic, on its rounds yesterday at the offices of the DVLA, encountered disappointed clients who had been in queues for long periods. Though some still said the process was orderly and faster, compared with previous years, they were of the view that the implementation of the electronic registration would make things much simpler and easier.

Thankfully, the management of the DVLA has hinted that the electronic registration of vehicles will take off this month. We appeal to the licensing authority to expedite action on the plan to make it practicable this month, as advertised, since there are customers who went to the DVLA’s offices in the hope of doing their registration electronically, while others are also certainly waiting with bated breath to do theirs through the same means.

We know the current vehicle registration regime is much compromised, as there have been cases where wanted vehicles are said to have been traced to those that are no longer in the system.
In one instance, a vehicle whose driver assaulted a lady in traffic on the TUC-National Theatre stretch was traced to a tractor at one of the ministries.

These and many others are what the Daily Graphic believes the introduction of the electronic vehicle registration will help curb.

We wait impatiently for the electronic registration, and as we do so we appeal to officials of the DVLA to adopt the best customer service as they have been doing in recent times.