GRA announces new rules for registering seven seat hire cars

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 20:59 by GxMedia

The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) on Tuesday announced that a new registration process has begun for seven-seat cars that are being used for hire.

Both just acquired cars and those already registered will have to follow the new system that now requires the Traffic Headquarters of the Guyana Police Force to first certify the seating capacity before they are registered by the GRA.

“The Guyana Revenue Authority in keeping with the decision to certify vehicles with over five seats to be used for hire has commenced. Letters to persons registering such motor cars will be issued by the Guyana Revenue Authority to have their seating capacity certified by the Traffic Headquarters of Guyana Police Force before these vehicles can be registered,” tax agency said in a statement.

Only recently the Traffic Headquarters of the Guyana Police Force informed the GRA that motor cars with a seating capacity of more than five seats may not be in conformity with Guyana’s Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act, Chapter 51:02, especially those used for hire purposes. As a consequence, motorcars with seating capacity of more than five persons should be certified by the Traffic Headquarters of the Guyana Police Force before being registered by the GRA.

Also, in cases where motor cars with seating capacity in excess of five seats having already registered and conducting any transaction with regards to their motor vehicles, the GRA said it would issue similar letters to have the seating capacity certified by the Traffic Headquarter of the Guyana Police Force before these transactions are completed.

When the seating capacities are certified by the Traffic Department of the Guyana Police Force, the GRA will effect any change to the Certificate of Registration.

With regards to vehicles already registered with more than five seats including the Toyota Spacio, Toyota Ipsum and Toyota Sienta, these vehicles will also be subjected to certification of their seating capacity by the Traffic Department of the Guyana Police Force. 

Vehicle owners can have their vehicle examined by the Police Certifying Office within their district and these certification must have the final approval by the Traffic Headquarter, Guyana Police Force before submission to the Guyana Revenue Authority Office, Camp Street for the amendments to be made on the original certificate of registration.

Any amendments made to the certificate of registration will incur a cost of $500.

The GRA pledged to continue to work in collaboration with the Guyana Police Force to ensure that the process of registering vehicles for private and hire is expedited seamlessly.

The GRA said it was gravely concerned about the media report that appeared in the Saturday,May10, 2014 edition of Kaieteur News entitled “Police target Toyota Spacio hire cars”, and statements attributed to the Commander of“D” Division of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) as saying that the “GRA erred somewhere in registering these vehicles as seven seaters”. The GRA is refuting claims of any error on its part in registering these vehicles.

The GRA said it followed the established Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) when registering these motor vehicles, which require among other things, that reference must be made to the motor vehicle information stated on the Certificate of Registration or Title received from the country of origin which includes the seating capacity.