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There was panic when the initial deadline expired on 31 May as motorists thronged Zimpost outlets in a last minute bid to register.
However, the queues disappeared when the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) announced that it had extended the last date of payment to 30 June.
In a telephone interview from Harare yesterday, Zinara spokesperson Mr Augustine Moyo said only 300 000 motorists had bought licence discs by yesterday afternoon.
The statistics show that about 220 000 vehicles were registered in the 10 days before the expiry of the 31 May deadline, while only about 80 000 have been registered in the 27 days since its extension.
“Despite the extra hours that Zimpost adopted to accommodate motorists who were saying the 50 registering outlets countrywide were too few, very few people are coming forward to buy discs. To date, about 38 percent have paid. It seems motorists are waiting to stampede for them at the last minute,” said Mr Moyo.
He said Zinara would not extend the deadline this time and all those who failed to register would pay a penalty to get the licence discs.
“Last time there was a nationwide outcry and we responded to it by adding 30 more days for registration. This time there shall be no excuse. Motorists have been given enough grace period,” said Mr Moyo.
The penalty is $45 and comprises $20 fine, $20 arrears fee and $5 administration fee.
When the deadline was extended, Police Commissioner General, Augustine Chihuri assured motorists that they would not be fined for failing to display valid licence discs until after 30 June.
However, a number of motorists were each fined $10 in Bulawayo on Tuesday.
Some motorists were fined at the Nguboyenja flyover bridge between 3pm and 5pm.
One of the motorists, Mr Witness Jiyane (34), said the police refused to accept explanations.
“They said they were enforcing the law and were not prepared to negotiate with me. I was ticketed. I feel I was treated unfairly because police have been announcing that they will start fining us on 1 July,” said Mr Jiyane.
The fine for failure to display a valid disc is $10. It becomes $20 if the motorist does not have insurance cover and repeat offenders risk getting their vehicles impounded.
Contacted for comment Senior Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said the police were right to issue the tickets.
“That issue is now water under the bridge. By now every motorist should be having a valid licence disc. The law says they should be fined if they do not have it,” said Snr Asst Comm Bvudzijena.
Zinara introduced new licence discs with high security features as a measure to plug the production of fake discs.
Counterfeiting was reportedly costing Zinara more than $20 million in potential revenue annually due to motorists who do not renew their vehicle licences although they are using the country’s roads.
The new system also aims to establish and capture the actual number of cars on Zimbabwe’s roads.
Zinara also revealed that it was collecting about $5 million every year from about 300 000 vehicles, instead of about $40 million from about 800 000 vehicles registered with the Central Vehicle Registry.
Road licence fees are used together with tollgate fees, overload fees and transit fees to maintain the country’s roads and construct new ones.
Licence discs, per vehicle per term, are $15 for motorcycles and $20 for small cars.
Owners of vehicles between three and seven tonnes fork out $45 while for vehicles above seven tonnes but below nine tonnes, the discs are $60 and those more than nine tonnes are $75.
Small trailer owners pay $15 and big trailers are charged $40.
Online Reporter