A police officer displays stolen number plates in Jinja City last year. Uganda is set to migrate to the digital number plates. Photo/File
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URA raises red flag on digital car plates
What you need to know:
- MOWT together with the Ministry of Security, acting on behalf of the government of Uganda, contracted M/S Joint Stock Company Global Security (JSCGS) on July 23, 2021 as suppliers of digital number plates embedded which surveillance chips under the envisaged Intelligent Transport Monitoring System (ITMS).
- It remained unclear if the Russian firm, which reportedly makes the digital car plates in the neighbouring Poland over international sanctions targeting Moscow, has shipped in the expected first batch of 50,000 plates
Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has warned against the rushed implementation of a new motor vehicle licence plate system scheduled to start this Saturday, July 1.
In an internal meeting at the end of March, but whose details have only just been seen by this publication, the tax body warned that a rushed job could undermine revenue collections and cause public unrest for which it will be blamed.
“Failure to deliver new digital number plates on time can stall business operations and cause public uproar,” URA officials warned in an internal memo.
The memo also notes that the existing contracts for in-country number plate manufactures will terminate at the end of the month, on Friday, potentially leaving the country without a system to issue licence plates to imported cars and motorcycles.
The URA issued the warning following meetings with officials from the Ministry of Works and Transport (MOWT) who are to take over motor vehicle registration.
MOWT together with the Ministry of Security, acting on behalf of the government of Uganda, contracted M/S Joint Stock Company Global Security (JSCGS) on July 23, 2021 as suppliers of digital number plates embedded which surveillance chips under the envisaged Intelligent Transport Monitoring System (ITMS).
With just three days to the end of this Financial Year, one of them tomorrow being a public holiday, uncertainly looms large about how the new arrangement will be rolled out.
A Ugandan delegation who travelled on a fact-finding mission to Moscow in March returned empty-handed to question the capability, competence and readiness of the handpicked company to manufacture, supply, install and integrate the new plates to street cameras for effective surveillance.
Whereas technocrats are stuck with how to proceed at the eleventh hour, URA has tossed unanswered questions and concerns of possible financial erosion.
“Motor vehicle customs duties and registration fees are a substantive revenue stream to the URA annual revenue target,” the tax body’s June 13 internal memo reads in part.
It adds: “The new registration process complexity, learning curve, the associated MoWT capabilities, low staff numbers deployed, speed of number-plating estimated at 40 minutes per vehicle and the few fitting centers could affect service delivery efficiencies, slow down the motor vehicle market and negatively impact URA revenues.”
We were unable last night to reach MOWT to ascertain its preparedness for the project amid the taxman’s concerns. Spokeswoman Susan Kataike earlier in the day said they planned to start new registrations with imported cars before spreading it out to re-registration of old cars.
It remained unclear if the Russian firm, which reportedly makes the digital car plates in the neighbouring Poland over international sanctions targeting Moscow, has shipped in the expected first batch of 50,000 plates.
Uganda plans to install the new plates on old and new vehicles and motorcycles alike, and URA questioned how the revenues would be shared among the different government agencies and the contractor.
Thispublication in an expose published on May 15 reported that Ugandan officials who visited Moscow in March were unable to see even one sample a new car plate embedded with a chip and affixed with a hologram – the type Uganda specified for delivery.
The contract requires that the new plates are pre-inspected and verified before shipmentinto the country, something which has not happened.
Also, there is no evidence that required cameras to integrate with the digital plates have been secured or installed, raising questions about how a piecemeal approachwill ensure system integration of an intelligent transport model.
The Russian firm has not at least publicly advertised or recruited Ugandans for the project and failure to roll it on Saturday when the old system lapses will leave buyers of new cars stranded --- without a way to register their vehicles, sparking chaos in the transport sector as red flagged by URA.
The taxman’s concerns mirror those of Kampala Capital City Traders Association, better known by the acronym Kacita, who used an engagement with MOWT officials to raise questions about the project.
Mr Musoke Thadeus Nagenda, the chairman of the association, told a press briefing mid last week that the project was being rushed and without consultation with key players such as car and motorcycle importers, bonded warehouse owners, forwarding and clearing agents, driver and motorcycle riders – a huge constituency.
“The implication [of] this is that the July 1, 2023 implementation date is too soon and if implemented, this will cause a lot of business stampede as well public outcry,” he said.
The project has been mired in controversy ever since it was revealed that JSCGS, the contractor, was subject to bankruptcy proceedings in Russia.
While these have since been settled, it remains unclear how the company won the contract to supply the new licence plates, and whether public procurement rules were followed.
