MOTOR vehicle owners will now be able to renew their licences on the anniversary of its registration, through the recent amendment, by the National Assemby, to the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act.
The Act was previously amended in 1973, and motorists were required to have licences renewed by January 1 of each year.
However, strict adherence to the law was not enforced by the relevant authorities as, before then, licences were only issued after the passage of the National Budget.
The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), in its continued efforts to improve its systems, took a bold administrative decision, in January of 2011, to introduce the new process.
It said, in a release, that the change was prompted by significant increases in motor vehicles being registered annually and, with more than 100,000 to process within a three months period, the volume of transactions often resulted in long lines of frustrated taxpayers and even longer waiting times.
GRA said renewals will now be spread over a period of one year, reducing the number of transactions to approximately 9,000 per month, instead of the more than 34,000 in the past.

PENALTY
The release said motor vehicle owners will be notified of the due date of renewal via mail and failure to adhere to the notice will result in the implementation of a ten percent administrative penalty for lateness, if a period of one week elapses after the anniversary.
Delinquent owners will be publicly named by the GRA and this information will be forwarded to the Guyana Police Force (GPF) for enforcement action to be taken.
The release said, to ensure that the mailed notices are received, GRA is encouraging persons to communicate any changes in mailing addresses and other personal data to the agency.
For further information, persons can call the agency’s hotline on telephone number 227-6060.
Meanwhile, owners should note that they need not wait for the anniversary date or for receipt of a notice to renew their licences, as that can be done before.
Vehicle owners who renewed theirs during 2011 are now only required to produce a copy of the motor vehicle registration certificate when purchasing for 2012.
However, owners of enclosed goods vehicles and yellow cabs are still required to present their vehicles for mandatory inspection at the Licence Revenue Office in Georgetown or any of GRA’s integrated offices.
Additionally, persons whose vehicles were licensed prior to the year 2011 but who failed to renew their licences in 2011 are required to check with the Motor Vehicles Licence Clerk before proceeding to the GRA cashier.
Motorists can renew or purchase their motor vehicle licences at any one of the GRA offices located at New Amsterdam and Corriverton in Berbice; Linden, Upper Demerara River; Parika, East Bank Essequibo; Lethem, Rupununi; Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast  or the office at Bartica, Essequibo River.