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Police say they still stick to the 30 June deadline as officially communicated to Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri by the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara).
However, over 6 000 motorists countrywide have already been penalised for not displaying the new discs by traffic cops.
Chief police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena, yesterday confirmed the force’s position.
He said Zinara recently wrote a letter to them through Comm-Gen Chihuri’s office informing them that they had extended the deadline to 30 June.
“We will start arresting people as they had requested and our position hasn’t changed. They requested and we acceded to that,” Snr Asst-Comm Bvudzijena said.
He, however, said there will be no refunds for those fined so far.
“An offence is an offence and the law provides that one should have a valid licence disc but because of the hiccups, we are trying to create an understanding between the motorists and the police. As for those arrested, there is no recourse,” he said.
He said people were given a grace period before the actual enforcement and that had been the practice.
“They (Zinara) started issuing licences late and we hope in future we won’t have such hiccups,” said Snr Asst Comm Bvudzijena.
On Tuesday, Zinara scrapped the 30 June vehicle licensing deadline extension hardly a week after granting the respite.
They said motorists who failed to display the new licence discs will be fined starting on Wednesday.
The deadline was extended following a public outcry from motorists who failed to meet the initial 31 May deadline.
Zinara spokesperson, Mr Augustine Moyo, said they had scrapped the extension of the deadline because motorists had stopped licensing their vehicles following the extension.
He said the police were going to issue tickets to all motorists without new vehicle licence discs.
According to Zinara, they made it very clear that the issue of extension of the deadline was not statutory since the Vehicle Registration and Licensing Act does not provide for any extension.
By 31 May, Zinara had registered 220 000 vehicles out of an estimated 800 000.
Queues that characterised the last few days to the 31 May deadline suddenly disappeared, raising fears that motorists will still miss the 30 June deadline.
Motorists will not be charged any administrative penalty for late licensing before 30 June.
But those who fail to license their vehicles by 30 June, will pay an all-inclusive penalty of $45 in addition to $20 charged for the licence disc.
The penalty comprises $20 fine, $20 arrears fee and $5 administration fee.
According to Zinara, the extended grace of 30 June only applied to their internal administration where it would not be charging penalties for late renewal of vehicle licences and does not exonerate motorists from prosecution.
Long queues that characterised the new vehicle licence system were back yesterday at most Zimpost branches in Harare with motorists stampeding to license their cars.
The motorists said they were afraid of being arrested.
However, the motorists said Zinara had not done anything to increase efficiency at its registration centres.
“The situation has not changed and the system is slow. I failed to beat the initial 30 May deadline and after hearing the extension of the deadline, I thought things would have improved by now but it seems the situation is getting worse.
“I fear the police and I will try by all means to register to be on the safe side,” said a motorist at the Zimpost Causeway branch yesterday.
Another motorist, Mr Hilary Makuvise said: “We are afraid of being arrested. We understand police have been instructed not to arrest us but its obvious there will be overzealous policemen and it is better to always be safe than to argue with them.
“This is the reason why we are calling on Zinara to give us more licensing centres as well as introducing a more efficient system.”
Zimpost offices, the motorist argued, had few computers.
“There are only three counters where we are being served and I have been here for three hours and the queue is moving slowly. This is a tedious process which needs Zinara to find a solution otherwise the chaos that is characterising this new registration system will be the order of the day,” said another motorist at the Zimpost main branch in Harare.
Transport, Communications and Infrastructural Development Minister, Nicholas Goche, could not be reached for a comment.
The situation was reportedly the same at other licensing centres around the country where motorists were failing to get the licences as Zinara struggles to clear the long queues.
Zinara claims it lost $15 million to bogus disc dealers last year alone and this justified introducing a new system.
The new system will be run from a central server at Zinara head office.
According to Zinara, there are about 20 000 Zimbabwean-registered vehicles in South Africa, most of which were using counterfeit discs.
The national road authority has since opened an office in Beitbridge for Zimbabweans living in South Africa to license their vehicles.
A Harare motorist, Mrs Roslyn Hanzi, has since filed an urgent application at the High Court seeking to compel police and Zinara to allow unlicensed vehicles on the road without penalty until 30 June.
Online Reporter