Digital number plates to fetch Shs154b

The replacement of old licence number plates with digital ones will fetch about Shs154 billion if the owners of all registered vehicles comply. 

According to the Ministry of Works and Transport statistics, there are 1,820,474 vehicles in the country as of May 31. 

At least 1,184,651 are motorcycles while 635,823 are other categories of vehicles, the statistics show. 

If all 635,823 vehicles, except motorcycles, pay Shs150,000 per unit to replace their licence plates, the Russian company, Joint Stock Company Global Security, will collect ShsShs95.3b, according to this newspaper’s calculations. 

Fees from motorcycles
The digital number plate company will also collect Shs59.2b after all motorcycles have had their number plates replaced after paying Shs50,000.

New vehicle and motorcycle owners will pay Shs714,000.
The Works ministry indicates that registration for the new number plates will start this November despite opposition from some government agencies and ministries, the Uganda Revenue Authority and Internal Affairs ministry. 

Mr Susan Kataike, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Works and Transport, said the exact number of motor vehicles on the road isn’t known because they depend on URA registration and licensing by their ministry.

“It is hard for us to know if the vehicle is still on the road, if it is involved in a serious accident and it is written off without reporting to the police. That vehicle will remain in our system as one that is on the road,” Ms Kataike said. 

Ms Kataike added that in case a vehicle is disassembled by the owner into spare parts without informing the authorities, they cannot be able to know.

She said the digital numbers would enable them to know whether the vehicle is still on the road or it has been written off.

“The initiative will prevent theft of motor vehicles, which will save the law enforcement officer a lot of time and resources,” she said. 

Background
The digital number plate project was part of the country’s Intelligent Transport Monitoring System (ITMS) to increase efficiency in the sectors of transport and security. 

However, when the Minister of Internal Affairs, Maj Gen (rtd) Kahinda Otafiire, appeared before a parliamentary committee, he said he wasn’t privy to the details of how the digital number plate project would work.

Maj Gen Otafiire said the Russian company might have the challenge of producing number plates in Poland given the strained relationship between the two countries due to the war in Ukraine. 

The Uganda Revenue Authority Commissioner General, Mr John Musinguzi also told the parliamentary committee that the Shs714,000 for the digital number plates would be too costly for the ordinary motor vehicle taxpayer.