Ethiopian drivers will soon have to pay an annual vehicle license fee towards maintaining the condition of the roads according to the Ethiopian Road Fund Office. It is expected that drivers will be charged 165 birr for a car when they renew their licenses.
Trucks will be charged more and additional fines will be exacted from trucks and buses that exceed weight limits or drive over long distances. The annual fee will be in addition to existing fuel taxes and vehicle charges from municipalities.
The decision to charge drivers an additional fee to maintain roads followed the recommendations of a study carried out by International Consultants and Technocrats an Indian consultancy and a World Bank report.The Indian firm suggested generating additional income to pay for road maintenance in its findings presented last week. The recommendation derived from the study also suggests an increase in taxes on gas and transit fees as well as maintaining the interest on treasury bills not exceed 0.05%.
Drivers will save 3 dollars in car repairs for every dollar that they pay to keep roads maintained according to Rashid Mohamed, the director of office of road fund.
In related news plans to use E-Rucs ,a database of vehicles to help figure out the annual distances travelled and volume of traffic on the roads, are underway. The software can also allow the road fund can also monitor the condition of the roads.
Source: Capital
