Russian firm to open digital number plate centres at Uganda borders

The Russian firm, Intelligent Transport Monitoring System (ITMS), is set to open additional digital number plate centers at Malaba and Mutukula in a bid to accelerate installation of global positioning system (GPS) trackers in all public and private vehicles, motorcycles, and water vessels entering the country, authorities have said.

The development follows a 10-year contract for the service- between the firm and government.

ITMS communications chief Galina Svalova has told Monitor that out of 47,000 government vehicles, over 1,000 number plates have been digitized, with an additional 3,800 number plates equipped with trackers as of September 12.

But Svalova said there is ample time to expand operations at Malaba and Mutukula, a move expected to expedite the installation process for private cars.

“We plan to advance further to make the digitization project more convenient and accessible for citizens. Currently, we are focusing on installing plates for government vehicles. Once government provides more vehicles, we will install plates on them as well,” Svalova said.

She added: “We have agreements with eight bonds, and the names of these bonds will be announced later by the ministry. The Mutukula and Malaba centers are built but require furniture to commence operations.”

Statistics from the Uganda’s works ministry indicate that by the end of 2022, there were approximately 1.8 million government and private vehicles in the country. Uganda had 1.1 million motorcycles and 635,823 vehicles in other categories.

 “We have sufficient time to complete the setup at the two border points, and once the installation is finished, we will expand to other installation centers upcountry, beyond the border points,” added.

The installation exercise began on November 1, 2023, but several car owners have not embraced the drive through which only 3,800 digital number plates have been rolled out.

“Several high-end cameras, superior to those currently in use in Uganda, have been installed. The project started with Kampala due to its high congestion and crime rates,” ITMS explained.

Nikita Novoselov, production director at ITMS said that they have already produced more than 25,000 number plates for private vehicles, and they will be making more as determined by demand.

“So, we already have safety stock to start and to cover all the necessary future production things,” Novoselov emphasized.

New vehicle and motorcycle owners will pay Shs714,000 for new plates, while exchanging existing plates will cost Shs150,000 for motor vehicles and Shs50,000 for motorcycles, official data shows.