Vehicle Registration – An Important Prerequisite In Transport Management

The first forms of road transport evolved during the Stone Age. It involved the use of horses , oxen or humans that carried goods over tracks that often followed the trails game . In similar vein, the first goods transport was on human backs and heads, but the use of pack animals, including donkeys and horses also developed around the same period.

The first recorded vehicle is believed to have been the travois , a frame used to drag loads, which probably developed in Eurasia after the first use of bullocks ( castrated cattle ) for pulling ploughs .

Although Vehicles, over the years have metamorphosed from the travois to the current SUVs and by extension become aesthetically more appealing tom the eye and comfortable to use, the basic objective of being used to provide a common means of transportation, whether it is a longer commute to work or a shorter trip to run errands around town remains the same.

IMPORTANCE OF VEHICLE INSPECTION AND REGISTRATION

As society became increasingly urbanise and vehicle population grew in tandem with their demand, an indispensable need to introduce measures to manage them to help urban planning as well as to help deal with social vices (thefts) that are usually associated with urbanisation, also gained currency.

This in essence precipitated the setting up of institutions (DVLA in the case of Ghana) to take up the responsibility for vehicle registration. The overarching significance of the registration is to ensure that every vehicle is uniquely identified before they hit the road, and could be traced to the owner in the event of an y development, be they positive or negative.

It is in view of the need to achieve the above-stated objective of uniquely identifying all vehicles before they hit the road that, right after being cleared at the port, every vehicle is given a DP Number Plate (Departure from Port) for temporary use for only 14 days beginning from the day of issue. Thereafter the owner is expected to go through the necessary registration process to ensure that the vehicle is properly documented and given a permanent vehicle registration number.

After the 14 days if the owner has not registered the vehicle, then the law requires that they apply for a DV (Defective Vehicle) number plate and the vehicle is used, sparingly, when it is going for repairs or being test-driven before purchase.

REQUIRMENTS FOR THE REGISTRATION FO VEHICLES

If the actual owner of a vehicle is the same person who seeks to register it, then the following will be required.

• Customs documents
• Two recent coloured passport size pictures of the owner
• Positive personal identification Card (Driving Licence, Voter’s ID, Passport, National ID and NHIS ID).

On the other hand of the registration is to be done by another person (an agent) then the following will be required.

• Customs documents\
• Two recent coloured passport size pictures of the owner

• Positive personal identification card (Driving Licence, Voter’s ID, Passport, National ID and NHIS ID).

• Power of attorney from the owner (Authorised note)
• Positive ID card of the authorised agent
• Two passport size picture of the authorised agent.

It is instructive to explain that the enhanced requirements for registration by persons other that the actual owner of the vehicle, is to prevent the situation where stolen vehicles are easily registered. In other words, this is done to protect vehicle owners and must be understood as such.

PROCEDURE FOR REGISTERING:
Before being registered, every vehicle must undergo testing and inspection. This ensures that the vehicle is in good condition and danger is not introduced unto the road. The caveat here, though, is that new vehicles are registered without going through testing and inspection because they are generally accepted to be in very good condition at that point in time.

Procedure:

• Presentation of vehicle for examination at vehicle inspection centre.
• Present vehicle together with Customs document to the Custom Officer for authentication
• Presentation of all documents to DVLA officials for inspection and processing.
• Payment of the prescribed fees based on the cubic capacity/tonnage of the vehicle.
• Acquisition of Form A and VRC to complete
• Returning of completed forms to DVLA officer for processing
• Assigning and issuing the number plate to the owner
• Obtaining a road worthiness certificate in addition to the copies of registration documents.

Every step in this registration process is very important. It takes a lot of carefulness for the vehicle records to be correctly recorded to engender good quality record management. Let us all contribute our quota while DVLA evolves strategies to enhance its work and serve us better.

BY Thelma Botchway,
PR Dept, DVLA.