CUSTOMS DIVISION of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has debunked claims that there are penalties on imported right-hand vehicles.
Supervisor at the Vehicle Valuation Unit of the Customs Technical Services Bureau, Justice Njornan Magah Yadjayime has stated that there are no penalties on right-hand vehicle imported into the country by way of additional customs duties when they are being cleared at the Ports.
Touching on right-hand drive vehicles on the Eye on Port, a live interactive programme on television, monitored by DGN Online, he said contrary to some speculations among the general public that right-hand vehicles attract additional duties from customs as penalties, that cannot be true.
“The only penalty they attract is at DVLA when they are going to register the vehicle because the technical team at DVLA would have to inspect if the steering wheel has been correctly fitted. This is a service they render so they need to be paid for that,” he clarified.
The law on right-hand drive vehicles was changed in 1974 to encourage people to drive on the right lane with the steering wheel on the left.
It is believed that this will give a broader view when driving to avoid accidents. Also, they felt it was safer enough for the driver to be away from the other driver. The only thing is that the law was reviewed to allow for a certain window.
However, in 1998 it was banned again but the challenge, according to him, was how to dispose of the vehicles when they were seized which was a cost to the state.
In 2001, the law was reviewed to allow for the Minister to give the permission before the right-hand vehicles were cleared.
From Vincent Kubi, Tema