By Iddi Yire
Accra, Oct.12, GNA – Mr Julius Neequaye Kotey, Chief Executive Officer, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), says the Authority has completed the concept and design of the new Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) enabled number plates.
He said, currently the RFID was being piloted ahead of nationwide rollout in 2027.
Mr Kotey made this known in his presentation at the Government Accountability Series Press Conference held at the Presidency in Accra.
He said the designs of these new number plates were carried out by the staff of DVLA, and there was no consultancy fee and no external influence over the designs and that it was led and completed by an in-house team.
He said the new number plate responds to the need to modernise vehicle registration with technology that allows access to instance and real-time information.
Mr Kotey said it enabled integration for electronic road tooling as well as they are about to be deployed traffic tech by the Motor Traffic Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service.
The Chief Executive Officer said the RFID technology provides the opportunity for vehicle number plates to carry information that would be useful for law enforcement in the event of crime.
“I am sure some of you have started seeing the number plates in time already. DVLA shall decentralise the licence plates enforcement to all regional offices to reduce the turnaround time for vehicle registration,” he said.
“At the heart of this reform is to improve security, reduce crime, and ensure that there is safety on our roads.”
Mr Kotey said their innovation in the licence plates regime also makes room for the registration and identification of commercial motorcycles, Okada, from private ones.
He reiterated that they had concluded back on distinguishing private licence holders from commercial licence holders for both vehicles and motorcycles.
He said they had also concluded work on converting our international licence permits and vehicle permits into biometric documents.
He noted that the current form, which was handwritten, did not conform with international based practise and standards.
“The irony is that we verify foreign licences, yet the international driving permit we issue to our citizens travelling outside the country remains unverifiable.”
He said work had far advanced for the Authority to digitalise the Road Accidents Reports.
“What we currently have is that accident reports are prepared by persons from their desk in armchair style; this new system will require assistance reports to be filed only from the field where the accident is reported,” Mr Kotey said.
He explained that the coordinates of the location must be picked before the platform would allow for the preparation of the accident reports.
He said they were also working closely to complete the vehicle layout system, which would allow vehicle owners to lay off their vehicles when they were off the roads for a reasonable period of time.
GNA
Edited by Linda Asante Agyei