Hard-pressed car owners squeezed over car licence renewal fees

Renewing a motor vehicle licence disc is becoming a breeze — no need to endure queues — simply make a few clicks to get sorted. Many companies are introducing digital system solutions so that customers do not have to stand in long queues at a driving licence testing centre or the SA Post Office.

The ongoing closure of hundreds of post offices countrywide is creating an opportunity for companies to provide the services that have been abandoned, albeit in a different way. One such indemand service is the annual licence disc renewal.

Gone are the post offices, long queues and touts — instead, there is an emergence of new online services provided by private companies.

Clients can easily renew licence discs from the comfort of their homes — for a fee.

Some companies are even able to renew licence discs via WhatsApp.

Supa Quick has partnered with Disky to provide motorists with a “convenient way” to renew their car licence.

Disky is an automated WhatsApp channel, in which all the necessary information is collected to renew the car licence disc on behalf of the motorist.

Customers do not have to download yet another app on their device because Disky uses WhatsApp. The service is available in 190 Supa Quick shops countrywide.

Supa Quick charges a service fee of R169 per licence disc and all payments can be made via WhatsApp (credit or debit card, Ozow or Zapper).

Car Licence Renewal is another company that uses ChatBack via WhatsApp to “conveniently” renew your licence. They charge a fixed service fee of R300, which does not include the courier fee and the R72 eNaTIS fee.

Pick n Pay also offers inshop and online renewal of car licences. Here R250 is charged for the renewal and R79 for the courier service, bringing the total fee to R329. Some PostNet shops charge a fee of R230 for renewing car licence discs.

The FNB service is only available in Gauteng and Cape Town, and the administration fee is R199, including delivery.

Several other companies offer to renew car licences for a fee on the internet.

NEW PLAYERS

While some of these online service providers might be scams, what is certain is that the demise of the Post Office has created a thriving industry.

The new sector seems to be lucrative for new players.

The National Traffic Information System (NaTIS) charges R171, which includes a service fee of R72 and a R99 delivery fee.

The Post Office also offers the service from any online device and does not impose a renewal commission but charges R75 for doorstep delivery.

The department of transport charges R99 for the online delivery of car licence discs, but it is silent on administrative fees.

Unregulated admin fees could push costs of the service beyond affordability for hardpressed motorists who live in areas where their local post office has closed.

Hence, such motorists must travel long distances to a driving licence centre, where they probably will queue for hours to renew their licence disc.

There are a few things wrong with this — high admin fees vs long-distance travel and long queues are hardly a choice for some people.

STRATOSPHERIC PRICES

A bizarre argument in support of the emerging industry is that one must be willing to pay for the convenience. Therefore, the private sector is entitled to charge exorbitant admin fees to facilitate online car licence renewals.

That is like telling motorists that the inefficiency of the driving licence testing centre and the Post Office justifies the private sector charging stratospheric prices.

It seems motorists are not expected to complain about admin fees because companies are creating a convenient way to renew licence discs.

And then there is the problem of pricing a public service beyond its “value” to a poor society already brought to its knees by high-interest rates and exorbitant food and fuel prices.

Why do private sector admin fees vary so much compared with those of the driving licence testing centre and the Post Office when they all provide similar services?

Are motorists being ripped off by the new industry with higher admin fees?

Perhaps new regulations are needed to ensure that private sector companies do not abuse their market power to charge exorbitant fees.

An industry regulator is also needed to regulate the provision of public services, such as the online renewal of car licences, identity cards and passports.

The regulator could regulate administrative fees.

However, one hopes that if such a regulator is established, it does not run the risk of becoming compromised by the industry it is meant to regulate.

One also wonders about the safety of personal information collected by such companies. Are they complying with the Protection of Personal Information Act?

WHILE SOME OF ONLINE SERVICE PROVIDERS MIGHT BE SCAMS ... THE DEMISE OF THE POST OFFICE HAS CREATED A THRIVING INDUSTRY