DVLA registers over 7,700 excavators, impounds 357 vehicles over customs irregularities

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has registered more than 7,700 excavators and impounded 357 vehicles suspected of customs-related irregularities as part of efforts to tighten vehicle registration and enforcement in Ghana.

The Chief Executive Officer of the DVLA, Julius Neequaye Kotey, disclosed the figures at the Government Accountability Series on Monday, October 12, 2026, saying the measures were intended to improve the tracking of excavators and prevent vehicles with unpaid customs duties from being registered.

Mr Kotey said the excavator registration initiative was being implemented in collaboration with the Minerals Commission to help authorities monitor the movement and activities of excavators brought into the country through ports of entry.

“Over 7,700 excavators have been registered under this very project,” he said, noting that the initiative addressed gaps in the registration of excavators imported into Ghana before the current administration took office.

DVLA deploys technology to detect vehicle fraud

The DVLA chief executive also revealed that the authority had acquired on-board diagnostic (OBD) devices to verify vehicle identification numbers and identify vehicles suspected of being cloned or improperly cleared through customs.

He explained that some importers allegedly bring vehicles into Ghana through unapproved routes and attempt to register them using identification numbers belonging to vehicles on which the required customs duties have already been paid.

According to him, the practice can create duplicate chassis numbers in the DVLA’s database, making it difficult to distinguish legitimate vehicles from those linked to suspected customs evasion.

Mr Kotey said the introduction of the OBD devices had improved the authority’s ability to detect such discrepancies and prevent vehicles from being registered until the necessary customs obligations were met.

“Our last record shows that by 10-09-2026, 357 vehicles have been impounded and handed over to the Ghana Revenue Authority to ensure the payment of the required customs duties,” he said.

The vehicles were handed over to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for the necessary customs duty processes, as the DVLA intensifies efforts to strengthen compliance and curb irregularities in vehicle registration.