Effective Wednesday, October 15, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority will not post personnel to the road side for mandatory checks on vehicle roadworthiness across the country. The DVLA announced the suspension in a statement on Tuesday following public outrage on the mode of operations of its task force which intended to entrap unsuspecting road users in order for them to pay fines if found non-compliant of the rules for operating a vehicle in Ghana. According to DVLA, the exercise was aimed at “ensuring that vehicles and drivers adhere to legal requirements to be on our roads.”

Pursuant to the Road Traffic Regulations, 2012 (LI 2180) specifically in regulation 158 (1), (2), (3), (4), and (5), DVLA at the beginning of the year posted fees and charges for listed offences against vehicle roadworthiness and fake licences where each offence carried a penalty of GH¢225 for offenders caught during roadside checks by a task force. The Authority noted it carried out the exercise as part of an enforcement of the fees and charges by its Compliance Team however upon further consultation and feedback from the motoring public it had decided to suspend the exercise for “extended engagement” before reintroduction at a later date.

The national transport regulator urged motorists to comply with the law guiding road use in the country as the indefinite suspension of compliance efforts “does not in any way suspend the legal requirements for drivers and vehicles to use our roads,” it added.