Africa-Press – Uganda. The government has revealed that payment of new road user fees for all passenger service vehicles will start in January.
The resumption follows a three-year break since the President in 2018 suspended collection of monthly road user fees for buses and taxis and tasked city authorities and the Ministry of Local Government to first resolve all operational issues crippling the transport sector.
Though the President and operators of passenger service vehicles agreed on the new fees structure, stakeholders involved in the transport sector say implementation starts next year.
The director of revenue collection at Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), Mr Samuel Serunkuuma, told Daily Monitor on Monday that all operators have welcomed the user fees structure. Mr Sserunkuuma said they have sensitised all stakeholders involved in the transport sector about the new fees.
“So this instrument is called the Local Government Amendment of Fifth Schedule Instrument 2020 and it came into play on April 28, 2020 and was signed by the Minister of Local Government, Mr Raphael Magyezi. We were supposed to collect the fees by then, but we couldn’t start due to Covid-19. Transport operators indicated that there was no business and pleaded for more grace period,” he said.
However after several engagements, Mr Sserunkuuma said, the transport operators agreed to start paying the fees in January. According to the new structure, the road user fees will be paid annually.
Authorities say the funds will be paid through a consolidated system managed by the Uganda Revenue Authority, which will then disburse the funds to the various municipalities and local governments.
“We will be conducting sensitisation including the public and transport operators and also establishing our offices in all the taxi parks and destinations,” Mr Sserunkuma said.
“We shall also ensure that routes which have been allocated to specific transport operators are followed. Route charts are voluntarily applied for and only expire after one year hence we won’t allow operators to divert from the routes which were given to them,” he added.
Transport operators yesterday welcomed the implementation of the policy. The deputy chairperson of Uganda Taxi Operators Federation, Mr Mustafa Mayambala, asked authorities to allow them pay the fees in installments due to the biting economic times occasioned by Covid-19.
“We have requested them to allow transport operators at least pay quarterly or twice a year. We have also asked them to popularise the system, so that we familiarise with it…” he said.
This publication understands that municipalities and local governments have lost a lot of revenue during the three-year period when transport operators weren’t paying monthly road user fees.
For instance, KCCA previously collected between Shs15b and Shs20b per annum from taxi road user fees.
Mr Sserunkuuma said the institution has lost approximately Shs60b in the last three years. Asked about the plan to reorganise boda bodas in the city, he revealed that there is an inter-ministerial committee which is yet to unveil a plan before end of year.
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