Fresh evidence has emerged showing how intermediaries and car bond operators are collecting millions of Shillings from vehicle and motorcycle owners through non-itemised receipts, weeks after the Ministry of Works and Transport issued a stern warning against overcharging for digital number plates.
During a recent joint inspection led by the Commissioner for Transport and Road Safety, Mr Winstone Katushabe, alongside the Uganda Police, authorities caught a car bond operator charging motorists Shs 850,000 for a new digital registration plate. The mandatory, gazetted fee set by the government is Shs 714,300.
However, additional documents reviewed by this reporter reveal a wider pattern across the vehicle registration and clearance chain, raising serious questions over whether motorists are systematically paying unexplained fees to private agents.
In one instance, a receipt issued on September 3, 2026, by Transedge Interfreight Holdings Co. Ltd records a lump-sum payment of Shs 1,485,000 listed simply as “Taxes + DPC plates + clearance.” Market research indicates that applicable taxes and clearance fees for this specific transaction should not have exceeded Shs 200,000. Combined with the official digital plate fee of Shs 714,300, the baseline costs total roughly Shs 914,300, leaving an unaccounted difference of Shs 570,700 without any itemised breakdown.
The transparency gap is even more severe for low-income earners, particularly motorcycle operators. A receipt from Khams Works Limited details an unbreakdown payment of Shs 2,100,000 for a motorcycle-related registration, while another document from Yuku Shipping and Logistics Ltd shows a similar payment of Shs 1,980,000.
While these documents do not on their own establish criminal wrongdoing, they highlight a systemic issue where motorists are handed total figures that blur the line between mandatory statutory fees, official plate costs, and private service markups. For boda boda riders, who rely on motorcycles as a vital source of livelihood to pay rent and school fees, these undocumented charges impose a heavy financial strain.
Contacted for clarification, Joint Venture ITMS, the firm managing the digital number plate rollout, reiterated that the gazetted cost for a new vehicle plate remains strictly Shs 714,300. An ITMS representative confirmed that motorists must not pay above the official rate for the plate itself, adding that an anti-corruption hotline (+256 326 88530) has been created to report demands for informal payments.
Addressing the information gap that leaves vehicle owners reliant on third-party intermediaries, Ministry of Works and Transport officials advised the public to track registration progress independently through the Motor Vehicle Registration (MVR) portal (portal.mvr.go.ug) or via their dedicated hotline (0200 420 000). Officials noted that delays often stem from flawed customs declarations rather than number plate processing, urging motorists to verify application stages before paying additional fees to claims of “delayed plates.”