DVLA to end year-based number plates in sweeping overhaul of Ghana’s vehicle registration system

Ghana’s Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) is set to eliminate the year of registration from vehicle number plates in one of the most significant reforms to the country’s registration system in decades, a move aimed at curbing registration delays, improving vehicle traceability and modernising road transport administration.

The proposed reform follows years of motorists deliberately postponing vehicle registrations to secure plates bearing a newer year, a practice that has distorted registration patterns, inflated demand at the start of each year and encouraged the prolonged use of temporary dealer plates.

Speaking on the initiative, DVLA Chief Executive Julius Neequaye Kotey said the authority intends to replace the current year identifier with zonal office codes that indicate where a vehicle was registered. Under the redesigned format, number plates will display the regional name, a regional code, a unique numerical sequence and a location-specific office code, eliminating the need for a registration year.

The authority believes the change will remove the perceived market advantage associated with newer registration years, ensuring vehicle owners register their cars when required instead of waiting months to obtain a more desirable plate.

Beyond addressing registration bottlenecks, the DVLA says the new system will strengthen vehicle identification and law enforcement by making registration records more location-specific. Authorities expect the revised format to improve the tracing of vehicles during investigations while aligning Ghana’s registration regime with international best practices.

The reform forms part of the DVLA’s broader digital transformation agenda to improve efficiency, reduce administrative bottlenecks and enhance public service delivery across the transport sector.

Before the new plates are introduced, the government must amend the Road Traffic Regulations (LI 68), with parliamentary approval required to give legal effect to the changes.

Until the reforms take effect, the DVLA is urging motorists not to delay registering newly acquired vehicles in anticipation of securing number plates with a different year, stressing that the year designation will soon become a feature of the past.