RTMC snuck hidden costs into new online payment system, says OUTA

Civil action group, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) has accused the Road Traffic Management Corporation’s (RTMC) of unfairly escalating costs in its newly launched online payment and licence renewal system.

On Thursday, the roads agency announced that it has finally entered the digital era, by introducing an online payments portal.

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula is optimistic that digitising essential services would reduce the corruption endemic at drivers license testing centres and shorten queues on-site.

But Outa is now accusing the roads agency and the department of hiking the fees for transactions such as those for changes in vehicle ownership.

“It’s all very well to say that you can now have your vehicle change of ownership done from the comfort of your home, but the cost of doing so has moved from around R150 to R530, plus another R99 courier fee. This is nothing but a rip-off and an unacceptable money-making scheme,” says OUTA Senior Legal Project Manager Andrea van Heerden.

Outa is convinced these excessive revenue streams will do nothing to curb the rampant and audacious corruption plaguing these service centres.

“While he was the CEO of RTIA, Japh Chuwe was allowed to increase his salary from an already high R3.3 million a year to R10.8 million in one year.

“With massive increases in new revenue streams accruing to these state-owned entities, they find creative ways to spend this money, essentially becoming new breeding grounds for more corruption and maladministration,” said van Heerden.

These essential service fees were once available at minimal cost to motorists, but OUTA says these fees are now being turned into a “profit centre.”

OUTA had objected to the new “administration” fees proposed by the Department of Transport in the notices gazetted last year.

But it says the final version issued in January only contained minimally reduced fees and essentially “forced these costs into the system, without any explanation as to why these additional fees should be applied in the first place.”

“Moving into the digital age should not be disguised as making it easier for society to transact with the state and then slapping the public with service fee increases to 250% and more for this benefit. This is nothing short of gross abuse of power and must not be allowed to happen,” concluded Van Heerden.

Compiled by Narissa Subramoney

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