The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), as part of its statutory mandate, regulates vehicle registration activities in Ghana. By so doing, the Authority is required to keep accurate record of vehicles on our roads.

Keeping accurate record of all vehicles in Ghana is not just a mandate, but one that can be relied on at any time a vehicle’s details and its ownership is required to fight crime for instance.

The Authority is regulated among other legislations by the Road Traffic Act, 2004 (Act 683) and the Road Traffic Regulations, 2012 (L.I. 2180). The legislative framework requires the Authority to put in place measures approved in law to ensure that adequate data/record of vehicles are kept at all times. In doing so, the most ideal situation is to have all vehicles adequately registered in order to have them recorded in the Authority’s register.

However, the framers of the legal instruments regulating DVLA are aware that not every vehicle that enters Ghana can be registered immediately in the name of the individual importer or the manufacturer or the assembler of the vehicle.

As a result, the Authority had introduced measures that allow for temporary records of vehicles until they are finally registered by the eventual owner/buyer. As part of these come the Trade Licences (Trade Licence Plates, as we know them).

Key among these, are what we know as Drive from Port (DP) plate which has now been converted into sticker to protect its integrity from being moved from one vehicle to another. The other is the famous DV plate.

Trade Licences are provided for under Section 45 of Act 683. Section 45(1) provides that “The Licensing Authority may on an application made to it and subject to prescribed conditions, issue a trade licence to (a) a manufacturer of motor vehicles, (b) a tester of motor vehicles, (c) a motor vehicle trader, (d) a person who satisfies the Licensing Authority that that person intends to commence business as a motor vehicle trader or a tester of motor vehicles, or (e) a person authorized by the Licensing Authority to trade in Trace licence plates, upon the payment of a prescribed fee”.

Subsections (2), (3) and (4), provides for a motor trader who is a manufacturer of motor vehicles, any other motor trader and a vehicle tester respectively. Subsection (5) of Section 45 is of interest. This is because this category is for those allowed by law to trade in trade licence plates such as the DV plates. Subregulation (5) states that “In the case of a trade in Trade Licence Plates, the Trade Licence Plate shall be issued by the Licensing Authority to the trade [sic] to be hired out for temporary use of individual vehicle importers, fleet dealers and fleet owners”.

Individual vehicle importers here, from my understanding, refers to individuals who may import vehicles into the country not for dealing in motor vehicles, but for personal use. Section 47 of Act 683 provides for appeals and indicates that where the Licensing Authority refuses any applicant the allocation of trade licence plate, the applicant may appeal to the Minister and the Minister shall make a determination on the appeal which shall be binding on the Authority. The Minister in this case, is the Minister under whose Ministry the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority operates – Ministry of Transport.

In order to give full effect to the parent Act, Act 683, the Road Traffic Regulations, 2012 (L.I. 2180) was enacted to provide the meat with which the Authority must conduct its affairs. The specific provision dealing with trade licence plates is Regulation 23 of L.I. 2180. Regulation 23 provides as follows:

• The Licensing Authority may issue a trade licence to a motor trader, fleet owner, or a licenced trade plate dealer, on payment by the trader, owner or dealer of the prescribed fee specified in the Fourth Schedule.

• A trade licence is valid for a period of one year and only in relation to the specific motor vehicle for which the trade licence was issued.

It can be gleaned from this provision that a DV plate that is issued to a vehicle is only to that vehicle. It cannot be transferred, or moved from a DV bearing vehicle which has been registered to another unregistered vehicle. It cannot also be given out for hiring from one vehicle to another. Further, the validity of one year is on the background that the Authority releases all DV plates required for the year at the beginning of the year. These plates can be used for any vehicle falling under the categories we shall look at shortly at any time within the year in which they were issued. They expire on 31^st December of the year in which they are issued.

Subregulation (3) of Regulation 23 provides that –

Despite subregulation (1), the Licensing Authority may issue a trade licence to a person not specified in that regulation where

• a motor vehicle having been off-loaded from a ship, freighter, train or other road vehicle is being driven to the place of business of the trader or fleet owner;
• a motor vehicle is being tested after having been received, assembled or repaired at the place of business of the dealer or fleet owner;
• a motor vehicle is being tried by or on behalf of an intended purchaser or the owner in the case of a motor vehicle under repairs;
• an unregistered motor vehicle or a motor vehicle under repairs is being transferred from or to another place in the country where a dealer or fleet owner carries on his business;
• a motor vehicle is being transferred from the place of business of a fleet owner or to the place of business of a dealer to enable repairs to the motor vehicle to be effected; or
• an unregistered motor vehicle or a motor vehicle which has been repaired is being delivered by the dealer to the fleet owner concerned.

Subregulations (7) and (8) deals with the fact that a dealer or a fleet owner may apply to obtain a number of trade licences and the rights of any applicant who has been refused trade licence to appeal to the Chief Executive of the Licensing Authority for a review.

A careful reading of the provisions of Regulation 23 of L.I. 2180 referenced copiously above, makes room generally for four categories. These are; motor trader, fleet owner, or a licenced trade plate dealer and any other person who does not fall under the three earlier categories. But, subregulation (3) of Regulation 23, provides specific conditions under which motor vehicles of the category can be issued with DV plates.

These are summarized as (1) motor vehicle that has been offloaded, (2) motor vehicle that is being tested after repairs, (3) motor vehicle that is being tried by an intended purchaser, (4) motor vehicle that is being transferred from the place of business of a fleet owner to the place of business of a dealer for repairs, and (5) an unregistered vehicle which has been repaired is being delivered by the dealer to the fleet owner.

No where in these pieces of legislations referenced, was room made for vehicles in pristine conditions to be affixed with trade licence plates for the ordinary course of use of vehicles. At best, the pieces of legislations referenced only make room for vehicles that are under dealership by those who have registered their businesses as dealers to enable the movement of vehicles in their ordinary course of business to enable/facilitate trade.

The author of this article has been careful to stay within the terms of law used in the laws referred to. For the avoidance of doubt, these DV plates are allowed to be used by individual importers (and I explained what individual importers mean – those who have brought in vehicles for their personal use) to enable them fix their vehicles which may have one defect or the other in readiness for registration with DVLA.

It must be noted that, the Authority currently issue two types of trade licences. The DP Sticker, which is pasted on every vehicle imported into the country that has gone through Customs clearance at the Ports. These stickers are valid once issued for fourteen (14) days.

Within these 14 days, any vehicle by an individual other than a motor vehicle dealer whose vehicle is without any defect is expected to register the vehicle before it can further be driven on our roads. No individual whose vehicle is not in any way fixing one defect or the other in readiness for it to be registered is entitled to transition from a DP to a DV. Neither is an individual who is not a registered motor vehicle dealer entitled to transition from a DP to a DV.

It is important to emphasize that a fleet owner or a motor vehicle dealer is one who has been registered as such. Registering a dealer or a fleet owner means they honour their tax obligations to the state. This means that individuals who operate as pseudo dealers but who are not registered as such cannot chastise the Authority over lack of access to DV plates. In any case, they have a window to appeal if they have been registered as such and have applied for allocations and have been refused.

It needs emphasizing that DVLA is a state institution. It has a mandate to ensure that everyone who operates business with it, pays the appropriate taxes to the state. DVLA cannot under any circumstances allow its systems to be abused by individuals who avoid taxes to benefit through its systems. It stands to reason that the Authority would recognize a dealer or fleet owner on the basis of his registration with the appropriate bodies and readiness to honour their tax obligations.

Part of the challenges we have in this country is that some individuals who are not dealers or fleet owners import vehicles into the country. These vehicles are imported under the guise of individual use (something that the laws allow and are entitled to DP to enable movement from the ports under a 14-day window.

They are further entitled to a DV if there are defects on the vehicle which have not been fixed by the expiration of the 14-day DP to enable further movement on our roads). However, these vehicles are brought in for trading purposes. These individuals inundate the Authority with demands for DV plates which are fixed on vehicles in perfect conditions.

They are then driven around and across the country against the restrictive use allowed by law until they find a buyer. These transactions are done off-the-records without any tax liabilities. That is some private profit which is chargeable to tax.

In addition, some individuals who have bought vehicles from dealers or fleet owners and have paid the full amount for vehicles which are in perfect conditions seek to be allowed to affix a DV plate and to drive them in the ordinary course of use of a vehicle until they are by themselves convinced that they are ready to register the vehicles. That is clearly not what the DV plates are meant for.

By this time, I am sure you are clear in your mind that the DV regime is seeing massive abuses in the system. Any vehicle in your possession which does not qualify for a DV plate, which you are not ready to register, must be packed at home until such a time that you are ready to register it.

This is why this year, the Authority had decided to restrict the number of DV plates in the system. Applications for interest in DV plates was opened in November 2025 and closed on December 12, 2025. Based on the response, the Authority made its assessment and released adequate number of DV plates to meet the demand ascertained. It can therefore not be said the Authority deliberately created an artificial shortage of the number of DV plates.

As I conclude, permit me to offer a piece of advice to buyers of vehicles from dealers or from individuals who may have a vehicle they decide to sell which are not already registered with DVLA. It is important for you as a buyer to appreciate that a seller may feel obligated to make all the necessary documents available to you if immediately after the transaction or before final payment you request the documents to enable you register the vehicle.

It is only the registration process that can authenticate if the documents in your possession are valid or not. It is also that process of registration that allows you to know if the appropriate custom duties were paid. The longer you drive an unregistered vehicle you bought and paid for, the more difficult it gets to be able to reach the seller for documentations when you finally decide to register the vehicle.  

I believe this article has provided some useful information on the criticisms on the restricted access to DV plates. I am in no doubt that for all who are ready to do right by the system, they will appreciate the reforms DVLA is implementing to deal with the abuses we see on our roads.

The fact remains that in order to be able to fight crime which involves the use of vehicles, we must have fewer vehicles being driven around unregistered, and running on DV for the purposes they are intended. DV plate is not a substitute for vehicle registration.

Thank you.

The author is the Director of Corporate Affairs, DVLA