Is DVLA fleecing drivers?
Some months ago, the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), in a statement, requested that all vehicles registered before a certain date needed an update of registration records, so they could be uploaded to the authority’s digital platform.
We were informed that it would cost only GH¢25 and clients were encouraged not to pay any amount beyond that.
As my vehicle was registered in 2013, I first went to the DVLA satellite office at the STC Yard, Ring Road West, Accra, only to be told that they did not offer the service there and I had to go to their Weija office or the head office.
On Thursday, March 12, 2026, I went to the DVLA's ultramodern office at Madina/Adentan to update my car registration records.
When I got there, I was told there were two registration options: GH¢25, as stated in the DVLA statement announcing the exercise, but this did not include the issuance of a certificate; and GH¢288, which included a card carrying all the car registration details.
But here was the catch: I was told it was difficult to get my car details uploaded to the DVLA digital platform if I chose the GH¢25 option.
I chose the GH¢25 option. To my utter surprise and shock, after waiting for over one hour, one of the officers walked up to me and returned my car registration documents, explaining that they had been unable to upload my car details to their platform without the option of a card.
I think the DVLA is taking advantage of vehicle owners to extort money from them by making it difficult to upload their vehicle registration records onto their digital platform if they decide to pay the GH¢25 DVLA advertised fee, instead of the much higher fee of GH¢288 that comes with a card that customers are asked to pay when they go to update their vehicle records.
The extortionist attitude of our state institutions must stop, as this is making life a real hell.
Noor-Deen Saeed,
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