Motor vehicle licence fees

By Colin Windell

Vehicle operators and private motorists will be paying more in licence fees from February when an additional R42 is added to each licence to fund the Road Traffic Management Corporation – this being in addition to any fee adjustments made by the individual provinces.

In October 2017 when Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi announced the 71 percent increase in eNaTIS vehicle licence fees for 2018, the Justice Project South Africa (JPSA) called on him to explain or justify the increase – however, the silence has been deafening!

This RTMC fee that is meant to fund Aarto in order to keep track of drivers and their fines, is in addition to the annual licence fee that paid to the local registering authority. This means renewing a vehicle license this year is likely to cost more than R300 in total.

As JPSA pointed out, the 71,43 percent RTMC fee increase, from R42 to R72, exceeds the current inflation rate (4,8 percent as at August) by almost 15 times. The previous year saw the fee increase by 16,67 percent from R36 to R42.

JPSA added the RTMC managed to rake in R453 143 790 in transaction fees in the 2016/17 financial year, a 7,93 percent increase over the previous financial year, despite fewer transactions having taken place.

In addition, the CEO’s salary increased by 31,6 percent, from R5 950 000 to R7 830 000 during the same period, while the remuneration packages of other senior management staff increased by an average of 19,1 percent.

“The recent termination of the RTMC’s contract with Tasima, which contact was unlawfully renewed by former Minister S’bu Ndebele in 2010, should have had the effect of decreasing the input and maintenance costs of the eNaTIS vehicle and driver registry,” JPSA said at the time.

“Therefore, beyond increasing the outrageously high remuneration packages which are paid to RTMC executives and Board members, there appears to be no rational reason for the truly massive increase in transaction fees the Minister has proclaimed.”

Each province determines its own registration and licence fees which are increased, from time to time, by proclamation in the respective provincial gazettes. Annual licence fees are assessed on a vehicle’s tare weight with separate scales for different vehicle types.

Based on the current fees, the Eastern Cape is the most expensive for Commercial vehicle operators by quite a large margin so it is not uncommon for fleet owners to register all their vehicles in a ‘cheaper’  province.

Fleet operators should also take note the local authority is not obliged to send out renewal notices and the onus is on the vehicle owner to ensure these are licensed each year before the expiry date – or face penalties of 1/10th of the appropriate fee for every month or part month the licence remains unpaid.