SENATE SLASHES PRICE OF NEW NUMBER PLATE

The Senate Committee on Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs has recommended the reduction of the price of the new standard motor vehicle number plates from N15,000 to N8,400 and driver’s license from N6,000 to N4,000.The committee also directed that the Federal Road Safety Commission should forthwith lift the ban on the issuance of the new number plates and licenses which were hitherto suspended.The recommendations were contained in the committee’s report following an investigation into the issue of new number plates and the public outcry against it.The committee also ordered that the cost of motor cycle number plates put at N3,000 should be immediately reverted to the old price of N1,500, implying that the licenses should also remain at N75.It also ordered the cessation of the e-coding scheme and the collection of N2,000 fee per vehicle by the FCT VIO, and urged it to collaborate with and integrate with the FRSC.The report recommended that, “The FRSC should call for the replacement of driver’s licenses only at the point of renewal at the expiration to avoid double payment.The committee also noted that the August 2012 deadline for the change was no longer realistic, citing the exorbitant cost and the time lapse during the National Assembly’s intervention.It further recommended that the Police should cease its Biometric Central Motor Registry which would also attract N3,500 from vehicle owners, saying that it would amount to duplication and additional burden on Nigerians.“The Police Force should synergise their idea of biometric data collection and collaborate with FRSC which already has an existing data base. The Police should forthwith suspend the introduction of the BCMR and the N3,500 that goes with it,” the committee said.Other details of the recommendation showed that articulated vehicles will now pay N11, 200, instead of the N20,000 stipulated by the FRSC; while privileged numbers and fancy or personalised numbers were left as recommended by the FRSC…CKN