The Licence Revenue Office is extending its office hours on Tuesday to facilitate the purchasing of road licences along with several other measures to speed up the processing of the licences.
Head of the Tax Operations and Services Department Hema Khan said the LRO will also be open for business weekdays from 7am to 5.30pm, on Saturdays from 9am to 2pm and on Sundays from 10am to 2pm. This is being down to minimise inconvenience to the public, a press release from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) said.
According to Khan a number of criticisms have been levelled against the GRA since it started selling vehicle licences and “while it may not be evident” the Authority is monitoring the situation. She also said contrary to media reports regarding taxpayers joining the wrong queue; the GRA’s officers are monitoring the public on entering the compound in order to direct them to the correct queues.
Further, to maximise time and improve compliance the Communi-cation and Tax Advisory Services Division will be producing a leaflet on Motor Vehicle Registration that states the required documents and explains the process of buying licences. The leaflet will be distributed by the security guard at the gate.
Khan said the LRO has to process about 10,000 transactions for each series of licence as far back as the ‘EE’ series with more than 80,000 vehicles in the system. The staff complement has been increased to accelerate updating the new automated system and reduce the number of persons having to return to uplift their licences.
Khan reiterated too that the three-month grace period for purchasing the licence is in effect and persons have until June 22 to do so. The GRA said it understands that traffic cops are demanding persons buy their licences immediately however, “we have discussed the issue with the Traffic Chief to ensure that the Traffic Police allow persons the grace period.”
Meanwhile, the GRA requests that persons who own vehicles registered in ‘G’ process their registration on Sundays to reduce delays during the week. Vehicles in this series must be inspected before the licences are granted.