Registration fee is 'just one more tax'
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by Sally Nash • Hauliers have slammed a surprise Government plan for a £25 one-off vehicle registration fee on 1 April as "yet another tax". The Government says the fee, payable on all new vehicles, will make vehicle owners responsible for the registration system.
But Donna Davies, legislation unit manager at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, says it will not improve the current system, simply "maintain the status quo".
And fees could rise if the system is expanded to include the introduction of the planned Joint Enforcement Database Initiative (JEDI), allowing the pooling of vehicle and operator details, Davies warns.
The Freight Transport Association has slated the proposal, arguing that any fee should be directly used to introduce JEDI. "It is high time the freight transport industry received something for its efforts instead of just another bill," says the PTA.
Leeds-based Archbold Freightage chair man Stuart Archbold says: "This is another tax, The road transport industry already pays for its costs in duties and taxes."
Rugby-based Panther Logistics would like to see how the costings break down. Managing director Wilson Barrett says: "If this is a justified cost then I have no quarrel with it. But let's face it, the transport industry gets screwed all ends up."
Comments on the proposal should be sent to the DVLA by 16 February.
ii The Vehicle Inspectorate's plans to use portable computers at roadside checks in a hid to catch cowboy operators have stalled again—this time because of supplier problems. JEDI has been dogged by delays since its planned introduction last April.
Now the VI says JEDI will come on line place this summer. Outgoing chief executive Ron Oliver confirms that the delays result from problems with IT supplier EDS.
• See Comment, page 6.