The ManicaPost
Post Reporter
THE deregistration of vehicles that have not been unlicenced for more than two years has started, Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) has said.
Zinara and Central Vehicle Registry (CVR ) last month issued a notice advising the public of the exercise, calling on vehicles owners to renew their licences or face the risk of deregistration after gazetting of the notice. Vehicles that get deregistered legally become valueless as owners cannot be able to sell them.
Vehicles in arrears of two or more years are now targeted for removal from the list of legally licenced vehicles, with authorities estimating that up to 800 000 are not up to date with licencing requirements.
Zinara public relations manager Mr Tendai Mugabe yesterday said the deregistration process was now in progress as they wait for the gazetting of the list of vehicles to be affected.
“As you noted, Zinara and CVR (Central Vehicle Registry) issued a public notice informing the public on the intention. The second stage will see gazetting of the list of vehicles as required by law. The gazette will give motorists 30 days to regularise, failure to which a vehicle will be de-registered. Exempted vehicles are deemed licenced by law, so they will not be on the deregistration list,” said Mr Mugabe.
To re-register, vehicle owners would be required to pay outstanding arrears and penalties, including insurance, and get clearance from the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) that the vehicle was legally imported into the country. The vehicle also has to be cleared by the Vehicle Theft Squad and the Vehicle Inspection Department before it can use the country’s roads.
Zinara said the exercise is meant to give Government an updated record of licenced vehicles, with the move being in line with provisions of the Vehicle Registration and Licencing Act which empowers the registrar to cancel licences for vehicles with outstanding fees exceeding two years.
Last year, the number of registered vehicles in Zimbabwe stood at 1,5 million, with the largest concentration in Harare, although there has been a significant mismatch between the number of vehicles and those paying licence fees.
