The Addis Ababa City Administration has officially begun issuing new vehicle license plates featuring the international country code ETH, which is assigned to Ethiopia under the Vienna Convention.
The new plates are initially being issued to customers purchasing new vehicles and to those who had previously registered and were waiting to receive license plates.
Ato Zegeye Belay, General Manager of the Addis Ababa City Driver and Vehicle Licensing and Control Authority, said the previous license plates had several shortcomings, including poor durability and vulnerability to duplication. He explained that the new plates are designed to address these problems through improved durability, stronger security features, and a modern identification system.
According to him, the new license plates incorporate elements that represent Ethiopia and are intended to promote unity. They are also manufactured in a way that prevents duplicate production and are supported by an accompanying service package for customers.
The new plates are designed to assist law enforcement, identify vehicle type, and provide information linked to vehicle ownership. The system is also expected to make it more difficult for traffic offenders to evade enforcement.
The plates will include microchip technology, while vehicles will also be fitted with an RFID identifier tag on the front windshield. Officials said this will allow real-time vehicle data to be accessed more efficiently.
The system is also designed to prevent a vehicle from being registered more than once in different regions. Once a vehicle is registered in one region, the system will automatically block attempts to register it again elsewhere.
The authority said the new plates are expected to provide long-term service and reduce costs previously incurred when vehicles changed their service type.
The issuance of the new license plates began across 11 branches in Addis Ababa. The service is currently being provided to customers purchasing new vehicles.
Customers who had already registered and were waiting for plates will be contacted by their respective branches based on their registration order. Officials said this approach is intended to prevent long queues and save time.
More than 1,000 people have already registered to receive the new plates. Since one person may own more than 100 vehicles, customers will be contacted by phone according to a scheduled timeline to collect their plates.
Ato Asefa Addis, Advisor for the Transport Service and Control Sector at the Ministry of Transport and Logistics, said the new plates correct Ethiopia’s international vehicle code. He explained that Ethiopia previously used the code ET, although the code assigned to Ethiopia under the international framework is ETH.
The tariff document for the new license plates sets different prices depending on vehicle category and energy type, including fuel-powered, electric, and natural gas vehicles.
For city and cross-country buses, vehicles for persons with disabilities, government vehicles, and three-wheelers, including Bajaj vehicles, the fee is Birr 9,400 for fuel-powered vehicles and Birr 7,100 for electric and natural gas vehicles.
For public taxi transport vehicles, the fee is Birr 11,700 for fuel-powered vehicles and Birr 9,400 for electric vehicles.
The highest price category applies to private vehicles, commercial vehicles, diplomatic vehicles, vehicles used by aid organizations, international and continental organizations, and special mobile or construction vehicles. The fee is Birr 56,000 for fuel-powered vehicles and Birr 44,500 for electric and natural gas vehicles.
For cross-border freight transport vehicles, the fee is Birr 28,500 for fuel-powered vehicles and Birr 15,200 for electric vehicles.
The lowest tariff applies to two-wheelers and motorcycles, with the fee set at Birr 4,700 for fuel-powered motorcycles and Birr 3,550 for electric motorcycles.
Source: Tikvah Ethiopia
Image Source: Ministry of Transport
