Toyota Spacio hire cars…GRA’s boss says they made no error in registering vehicles

May 14, 2014 News

The report on the detaining of several Toyota Spacio hire cars by ‘D’ Division police ranks last Friday was alarming, according to the Khurshid Sattaur, Commissioner General, Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The Commissioner General was referring to an article published in the Kaieteur News on May 10, last captioned “Police target Toyota Spacio hire cars” and a statement attributed to the Acting Commander for ‘D’ Division, Ian Amsterdam as saying, “GRA erred somewhere in registering these vehicles as seven-seaters.”

Some of the drivers along with their vehicles last Friday near the Wales Police Station.

According to Sattaur, he did meet with the police sometime back to discuss the issues surrounding vehicles with seven seats, and it was agreed that the GRA would work with the police in compliance with the Motor Vehicle Road Safety Act. However, the “pulling in” of more than three dozen vehicles on the West Bank and the West Coast of Demerara (WCD) was not the agreement made by both parties.
Regarding the statement made by Amsterdam that GRA erred somewhere in registering the vehicles as seven-seaters, Sattaur said that there was no error made on GRA’s part.
He explained that GRA followed the established Standard Operating Procedures when registering these vehicles, which require among other things, that reference must be made to the motor vehicle information stated on the Certificate of Registration or Title received from the country of origin, which includes the seating capacity.
Sattaur added that only recently the Traffic Headquarters of the Guyana Police Force informed the GRA that motor cars with a seating capacity of more than five seats may not be in conformity with the country’s Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act, Chapter 51:02, especially those used for hire purposes.
“We have never had a problem with the police on the registration of vehicles until recently when they (police) notified us that the registration of the vehicles for seven seats is contravening the Motor Vehicle Road Traffic Act,” he noted.
“We’ve worked together on resolving the problem in compliance with the Road Traffic Act. The Act is their (police’s) jurisdiction; we register vehicles and issue licences,” he stressed.
From now on, motor cars with seating capacity in excess of five seats having already registered and conducting any transaction with regards to their motor vehicles, the GRA would issue letters to have the seating capacity certified by the Traffic Headquarters before transactions are completed.
With regards to vehicles already registered with more than five seats, including the Toyota Spacio, Toyota Ipsum and Toyota Sienta, they will be subjected to certification of their seating capacity by the Traffic Department.
Owners can have their vehicles examined by the Police Certifying Office within their district and this certification must have the final approval by the Traffic Headquarters before submission to the GRA.

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