Motorist Licensing fees increased, Parliament passes bill

The increase on licensing fees has been passed. It has been 30 years since they have been adjusted.

The Vehicles and Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill, 2025, went before Parliament today (Monday) where a spirited debate took place but despite several objections from Opposition members, the bill was passed.

When parliament met last Thursday, several individuals associated with the opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) staged a picket in the area outside of the parliament building. The picket was to protest the planned increases in licence fees.

Opposition Leader Jamale Pringle while in agreement that specific measures must be taken to improve road infrastructure was totally against the increase.

He termed it as an unnecessary hit on the pockets of the people.

Pringle questioned the initiative mentioning that since the Gaston Browne-led administration took office, the amount of road repairs has been unsatisfactory.

But Prime Minister Gaston Browne argued that the fact the increase is going towards the repairs and infrastructure of the roads is more than enough reason to support.

He added that with these repairs it will aid in lessening the costs motorists have accumulated for car repairs due to the bad roads.

PM Browne assured that there will be a committee in place to ensure there isn’t a misuse of these funds specifically when contracts are being awarded for road repairs.

“The banks will issue a bond or a loan in the amount of a hundred million dollars, and they will have an engineer that will work exclusively for the bank to make sure that every single drawing that the government gets from this loan would have been completed. So, there has to be a certificate of completion confirming that the roads were built.

“The loan will be withdrawn systematically until it is depleted. We anticipate that it can be over a 10-month period,” PM Browne explained.

These funds will not be made available or redirected for any other aspect of government business. Only for contractors to do the roads.

There will be equity in the awarding of contracts including the Director and Secretary of Public Works who will serve on the committee.

Since its initial announcement, adjustments have been made in response to public concerns.

While certain vehicles like tractors, hearses and ambulances will be exempt, the flat $100 increase for motor cars and a 40% hike for Sport Utility Vehicles and heavy-duty equipment remain in place.