New vehicle licence fees gazetted

Harare Bureau
Government has gazetted new vehicle licence fees based on the mass of the car to be paid through the Zimbabwe National Road Administration. According to the Government Statutory Instrument 141 of 2013, vehicle licences would no longer be charged by class as previously done but by their respective vehicle mass.
Zinara has also appointed Zimpost as its agent to register cars and all their offices would be a point of sale for the licences and would collect revenue on behalf of Zinara.

Before the new fees were gazetted, vehicles whose mass was 1-2 300kg were paying $20 per term and now vehicles whose mass is between 1500-2500kg now pay $25 for four months, $40 for eight months and $60 per year.

Vehicles with a net mass of over 9 000kgs used to pay $75 per term but now vehicles weighing between 7750kgs and 9250kgs have to part with $130 per four months and $400 per year.

Many motorists especially heavy vehicle owners have complained that the fees were too high and out of reach for many especially in the current economic situation.

Mr Timothy Mashumba of Marlborough in Harare said Zinara did not notify the public or consult the public before coming up with the new fees.

“I was surprised to find that the vehicle licence fees have gone up. Imagine coming to town with $75 to pay for your truck only to be told that you have to pay twice as much as the previous term. It’s unfair to say the least,” he said.

According to the statutory instrument, tariffs include surcharge for heavy vehicles from a net mass of 300kgs and above.
Zinara offices have of late been overwhelmed with people queuing to pay, only to find the fees different from the last time.

Efforts to get a comment from Zinara were fruitless as senior managers kept referring to a press conference to be held at a date to be announced.

A vehicle licence fee is a fee charged on a certain class of vehicle as described by the Vehicle Registration and Licencing Act Chapter 13.14.
Traditionally, local authorities have been collecting these fees and treating them as part of their revenue.

Local Authorities were placing their orders for vehicle licence fees with Central Vehicle Registry and were charging fees as approved by their councils. This resulted in different fees depending on the local authority.

The funds collected on the vehicle licence fees were not being utilised on road development programmes.