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Motorists and companies that own fleets of vehicles have protested against the move as it forces them to queue more than once in the long queues.
Chronicle visited the Bulawayo Main Post Office yesterday and witnessed the congestion.
Enterprising youths are cashing in on the development, charging up to R50 to queue on behalf of motorists.
A number of motorists yesterday said they had been queuing at the Bulawayo Main Post Office since Wednesday to get the licence disc as the old ones expire on Thursday.
According to the country’s laws, police are supposed to impound vehicles found on the road without valid licence discs.
“I think this is a deliberate ploy by Zinara (Zimbabwe National Road Administration) to charge us an extra $5 or $10 for late payments. Imagine, the discs only became available countrywide on Monday last week and we have only one teller attending to this long queue. They do not want us to buy these discs on time,” said a woman who only identified herself as Mrs Moyo.
A messenger at a local company said limiting the number of vehicles an individual could pay for was ridiculous.
“I have been sent to pay for 26 vehicles by my company and these people are saying the maximum they allow is three. I have not been able to pay for even one. At this rate, I will definitely not be able to pay for all of them by Thursday. The company will have to release more people from their duties to come and join the queue,” said Mr Ronald Muguta (37).
Mrs Ruth Evans of North End said it was high time that Zinara kept abreast with technology to make it easier for motorists to comply with regulations.
“This is nonsense. Why should we queue for so many days just to get a disc? They cannot tell us they do not know anything about Internet banking or paying for services via sms. Zimpost outlets should only be collection points for people who have paid for their discs. Why did they remove the service from local authorities anyway? As it is the discs cover only one term and will expire in three months’ time. We will then have to face this inconvenience again,” said an angry Mrs Evans.
An official at the outlet said the Zinara poster in the post office clearly stating that bulk payments would be processed and the discs delivered to the vehicle owner was just an advertisement.
“We only allow bulk payments if all the vehicles are registered under the same surname. The vehicles should also be more than 10. We do not deliver at people’s door- steps; they should wait for their discs and collect them,” said the official.
The official said companies that were paying for employees whose vehicles were registered under different surnames would have to split their payments into batches of three and line up as many times as it would take for them to pay.
Contacted for comment, Zimpost’s managing director Mr Douglas Zimbango said the idea of limiting the number of vehicles a person could pay for was meant to curb touting.
“We realised that some touts and insurance companies were taking customers’ books and charging a fee to pay for them. That is why we decided to scrutinise bulk payments,” said Mr Zimbango.
Zimpost area manager for Matabeleland Mr Frank Kunda said officials had misinterpreted instructions.
“While we want to eliminate touts, we do not want to inconvenience customers. Those with bulk payments under different names can approach our client services managers and their payments will be accepted. They will be processed overnight and be ready for collection the next day. The issue has been clarified and we apologise for inconveniences suffered by our customers,” said Mr Kunda.
Last week, Mr Zimbango said working hours would be extended to stretch from 7am to 6pm and during weekends to enable motorists to buy licence discs.
Mr Zimbango said Zimpost had reduced the number of outlets receiving Zinara payments from 300 to just 50 countrywide following the computerisation of the payment system.
Zinara introduced new vehicle licence discs with more security features as part of efforts to curb the production of fake licence discs.
This follows the discovery that the administration was being prejudiced of $15 million in potential revenue through rampant printing of fake discs.
Zinara has indicated that it might extend the grace period to motorists who fail to beat the registration deadline.
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