The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) will begin piloting the new digital number plate system on August 1, this year.
The exercise will commence with the registration of government vehicles, followed by the registration of all unregistered vehicles on September 1.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the DVLA, Julius Neequaye Kotey, however, said that January 1, 2027 remained the effective date for the re-registration of vehicles until December 31, 2028.
Speaking at a media briefing in Accra last Friday, he explained that July 31 had been designated for the completion of system updates for the pilot phase of the exercise.
Mr Kotey reiterated the DVLA’s commitment to implement the new number plates and vehicle re-registration regime to bolster the country’s vehicle identification system.
He subsequently called on all stakeholders, including driver unions, to support the initiative.
He explained that apart from helping to stop revenue leakages in the registration process, the new system would integrate the vehicle registration database with other agencies such as the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) toll system, National Insurance Commission (NIC) motor insurance, the police and the judiciary.
Mr Kotey said it was disheartening that the DVLA could not readily provide information for state enforcement agencies such as the Economic and Organised Crime Organisation (EOCO) or the Ghana Police Service whenever they made such requests.
“Sometimes this information on vehicles are required to grant people bail, but because we do not have it readily available, they end up spending some days in police custody, and this must change,” he stressed.
Context
In October 2025, the DVLA announced that effective January 1, this year, it would begin a new registration system for all vehicles under a new digital number plate regime.
The authority had indicated that the initiative, which was meant to improve vehicle identification, would start with the registration of new vehicles on January 1, 2026, to be followed by the re-registration of the country’s over four million existing vehicles from April 1, 2026 to December 1, 2027.
The DVLA had also stated that the new number plates would contain Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips for digital activation and instant verification by enforcement agencies.
However, on December 24, 2025, the DVLA CEO announced at a press briefing that the implementation of the policy had been put on hold pending approval by Parliament.
He explained that the suspension of the policy had become necessary due to a proposed amendment of the Road Traffic Regulation, 2012 (L.I. 2180), which specified that the content and format of vehicle number plates in the country were still before Parliament and had not yet been approved.
As part of the planned rollout of new vehicle licence plates, the DVLA) announced on January 7, this year, that owners of all vehicles registered in Ghana before 2023 should ensure that their details were migrated from the authority’s manual system to the authority's digital platform.
Onboarding
At last Friday’s press briefing, the DVLA explained that onboarding vehicles to the new digital platform would be a clear testament that all taxes had been paid and that the vehicle had been properly registered with the authority.
He said the onboarding would also show legal ownership of the vehicle title while also making real-time sharing of information on the machine with the police in the event of theft.
“If you do not onboard your vehicle, you cannot obtain your certificate or title and vehicle registration card; you cannot register your vehicle when the mandated new vehicle registration and re-registration exercise commence; and you will violate road traffic laws and get sanctioned,” he stated.
