The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) has added its voice to a swathe of objections to the Department of Transport’s proposal to charge motorists R250 to make an online booking for a slot in the queue to renew a driving licence, which is over and above the transaction fees.
The proposed charge was gazetted on September 3, in the draft Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) Regulations 2021, which amend the 2007 regulations.
“We believe it is the state’s duty to provide services to the public, to ensure that society complies with various laws and regulations, and that no service fees should apply if these were not applied for walk-in services,” says Wayne Duvenage, Outa CEO.
The new R250 fee is explained as: “Online booking for the renewal of credit card format driving licence”.
“Government’s role is to make it easy for the public to obtain driving licences and to renew these when required, and Outa believes the public are not expected to pay to enter service centres and queue to conduct these necessary transactions, be it in person or online,” says Duvenage.
“We cannot understand the rationale for the state charging exorbitant fees just to book online to apply to renew a driving licence.
“This is on top of an existing excessive administration fee of R72 per transaction that is paid to the RTMC to administer the national vehicle and driving licence register.”
It’s been described by many as nothing more than extortion.
The proposed regulations include a list of fees, including R700 for the “online registration” of a motor vehicle.
“These fees are outrageous and unacceptable,” says Duvenage.
The amended regulations, which include the fees, are open for public comment for 30 days from September 3.
Outa will be writing to the minister to request the record of decision that motivated the introduction of these fees and will make a formal submission on the proposal, says Duvenage.
