Cars in a Kampala bond/online photo
President Yoweri Museveni on May22, 2020 assented to the Traffic and Road Safety Act, 1988 (Amendment) Act, 2020 which comes into force with stringent traffic rules.
The law was passed earlier on 29th January 2020 by Parliament. Ministry of Works and Transport on 27th May 2020.
According to the new law, “cars that are above the age of two years from the year of manufacture shall not be permitted on the road without a certificate of fitness issued by the line minister.”
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The new law has also increased penalty for failing to notify the chief licensing officer of change of ownership of one’s vehicle within 14 days after sale. Violation of this law will attract a fine of Shs6m or imprisonment for six months.
Ian Rumanyika, the Public and Corporate Affairs Manager at Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) told Business Focus that “URA is working with Ministry of Works and Transport to handover MV licensing and Registration by 1st July 2021.”
The law has also increased penalty for driving schools operating without a valid license from Shs1m to Shs2m.
The law also provides for licensing and regulation of online ride hailing companies such as Uber and Bold.
The law also says that boda bodas will have to obtain a Class M-commercial motorcycle as a new class of operator vehicles license.
It is also an offense to dodge paying your taxi fare, on demand from the operator or willfully damage a public service vehicle.
Additionally, touting (where a conductor makes noise in order to attract the attention of a possible passenger) is prohibited. The fine for this violation has been increased from Shs300,000 to Shs6m.
The law also states that an accident victim shall have access to medical treatment at a hospital, clinic or other health facility without having to pay first until he or she stabilizes.
