Motor vehicle branding cut deep into owners’ pockets
A Uganda Telecom branded car and a vehicle with the Daily Monitor logo. PHOTOS BY EDDIE CHICCO
What you need to know:
If the proposed tax rates are implemented, different car owners will have to rethink branding their cars and accepting stickers to be displayed on their vehicles.
Kampala- Ismail Bukenya drives a PK wrapped vehicle that he branded after he was approached by the company to earn some money through branding it. However, if the proposed tax rates on branded vehicles by Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) are successfully implemented, different car owners like Bukenya, will have to re-think the decision to brand their cars.
According to a press statement, KCCA is working to streamline the outdoor advertising sector in Kampala as mandated by the 2008 Outdoor Advertising Guidelines and the Kampala Capital City Act 2010.
If successful, we shall join other developed cities which tax outdoor advertising companies which use cars for advertising.
Edward Opio, the head of advertising and business at Precise Media, an advertising and branding company, welcomes the move, saying it will improve on the quality of outdoor advertising. “This is because only people who know the quality and worth of such a service will go for it,” he says
Opio says everyone is doing some sort of advertising so the move will de-clutter the advertising industry and bring in some quality work and growth of the industry. This is because it will take some irrelevance out of the market.
Opio also says car owners who will accept to have their cars branded will have to transfer the costs to the clients.
Mr Edson Mujjabi, the director of Media Amazon, based on Nasser road says car branding has been one of the cheapest promotional advertising that is used by most companies. He sees this as a threat to companies involved in branding these cars.
There are different vehicles on the road which are either branded on the windows or carrying stickers with logos and information talking about different companies.
There are proposals to incorporate commercially branded vehicles operating in Kampala into their revenue bracket in the coming financial year.
However, this proposal will not affect government-owned vehicles, vehicles owned by Not-for Profit-Organisations and Vehicles owned by Embassies or High Commissions bearing the Diplomatic Number plates
For fully branded vehicles, a car owner will have to part with Shs500,000 per year, cars which are branded halfway or 50 per cent of the body will have to part with Shs250,000 per year. Even those vehicles branded only with the company logo like most company vehicles, will have to part with Shs100,000 per year.
The commuter taxis which are already paying the monthly Shs120,000 will have to pay Shs240,000 for taxi top branding if they opt to brand their cars.
A walk through the taxi park reveals different taxis with branded back-door windows and also some carrying different bumper stickers of different companies. Additionally, KCCA will charge Shs240,000 per year for window branding of vehicles.
KCCA deputy spokesperson Robert Kalumba, the says the new tax proposed on the motor vehicles will be effected on July 1, 2015.
