Gov't to eliminate uninsured commercial vehicles from Jan. 2020

The Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says a Motor Insurance Database is expected to be connected to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) systems in January 2020 to eliminate commercial vehicles on the road without insurance cover.

“After meetings with the DVLA and the National Insurance Commission about creating better synergies between them, it is expected that the Motor Insurance Database will be connected to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) system in January 2020 so that before a vehicle is issued with a road worthiness certificate, it can be verified whether it has a valid insurance cover from a licensed insurance company.”

Dr, Bawumia announced this at the National Insurance Commission chairman’s cocktail reception in Accra.

He added that the integration would enable passengers to use their mobile phones to check whether commercial vehicles they are about to board are properly insured.

“The motor database will also make it possible for the travelling public to verify the authenticity of the insurance policies of commercial vehicles before they board such vehicles. All you have to do is to enter the number of the car on your phone, even if it is a ‘yam’ phone, and you can tell if the trotro or bus you are about to board is properly insured or not.”

"This certainly brings better awareness and protection for the ordinary Ghanaian.”

“The database will also help to stop the leakages from the insurance revenues through fake motor insurance stickers. Already, after the digitization of the DVLA, the incidence of ‘Goro Boys’ has been curtailed. Same thing has happened at the Passport Office.

“So we are getting there. The digitization agenda, which is designed to make accessing government services easier, is on course,” he said.

Dr Bawumia also mentioned that the government is taking steps to protect the nation’s information infrastructure as part of the digitization programme.

He added that appropriate laws have been passed to provide the needed framework for the fight against cyber criminals, citing the Electronic Transactions Act and the Electronic Payments Act, to regulate and protect electronic transactions and payments.

He explained that the Data Protection Act also protects the private data of government, citizens and businesses in Ghana.

The National Cyber Security Policy and Strategy, he said, was developed to monitor and protect the nation’s cyber space.

The National SIM re-registration exercise scheduled for early 2020 is another initiative to mitigate cyber-crimes committed using mobiles phones, he added.