In a bid to strengthen road transport regulation and road safety management government through the Traffic and Road safety Act (Amendment 2021) is set to re-introduce the road licensing of motorists.
The Bill will introduce an annual licence fee for all motor vehicles and all motorists will be required to be in possession of a motor vehicle.
“A person shall not own or possess a motor vehicle, trailer or engineering plant or use it on a road, unless the motor vehicle, trailer or engineering plant is licensed under this Traffic and Road Safety Act,” states the bill.
The application for the licence of a motor vehicle, trailer or engineering plant shall be made to the Chief Licensing Officer.
“A licence granted under subsection (1), shall be valid until revoked. (4) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding one hundred currency points or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or both. A person who owns or possess a motor vehicle, trailer or engineering plant or uses it on a road, shall pay an annual on or before the 31st day of January of every year, as may be prescribed by the Minister by regulations,” states the bill.
In cases where a person fails to pay the prescribed annual fee before or on the due date, they will be required to pay a penalty of ten currency points for each day they default the motor license fee.
The motorist license fee is not new to many, a decade ago it was illegal for motorists to be found on the road without the license and car inspections were carried out to curb the defaulters however the fee was halted and the charges levied on the fuel charges because the licence fee was being defaulted by many people.
By the time of publication, Matooke Republic was yet to know how much one will be required to pay however in the past one’s determinants for the motorist license fee varied and depended on the type of vehicle one drove. Although the license fees have not been determined yet fines amounting to as much as Shs2m awaits defaulters.