URA relaxes rules for motorcycle registration in West Nile

Arua, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has introduced an instalment system of paying motorcycle registration fees, a move aimed at eliminating the high number of unregistered motorcycles in the West Nile region.

The new policy allows motorcycle owners to pay for registration in instalments for up to six months. Under the new development, the tax body also reduced the tax on motorcycle registration by half.

Previously motorcycle owners were required to pay  1.5 million Shillings in taxes for motorcycle registrations which enabled a rider to obtain a license plate. But under the new arrangement, motorists with numberless motorcycles will be required to pay 750,000 Uganda Shillings.

Henry Musasizi, the Minister of State for Finance Planning and Economic Development announced the temporary measure following a petition by the local leaders from the West Nile sub-region.

URA Commissioner General John Musinguzi, explains that under the new arrangement, motorists who will not be able to complete the payment can be traced through the various Boda Boda associations to ensure compliance.

Over the past years, the impounding of unregistered motorcycles has been a major source of altercation between the URA enforcement team and the local community in the region, something which has led to the deaths of innocent civilians during such operations.

For decades now, the West Nile region has been a hub for smuggling, something the local leaders blame on the porous border points with the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. Oftentimes, numberless motorcycles are mostly preferred by smugglers for illicit activity.

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