ZIMRA stalls change of vehicle ownership

Motorists seeking to change ownership of their vehicles are crying foul over delays by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) in processing their papers, as officers take up to three weeks to respond to an application that would have been filed via email.

After such a long wait, ZIMRA may raise queries regarding the documents filed and the process further delays to over a month.

Due to the huge volumes of emails sent by vehicle owners, most letters bounce back.

Some vehicle owners believe the new practice by ZIMRA, compelling all people to send their applications via email has an effect of excluding those who have no access to the electronic service.

Those who have no access to email end up engaging the services of middlemen, who are known for fuelling corruption.

People who spoke to The Herald blasted the new system saying the delays were too much and unnecessary.

Zimra has since acknowledged the delays saying their ICT engineers were working round-the-clock to rectify the technical challenges.

"The authority acknowledges the delays with regret. The important issues raised are duly noted and the authority is committed to addressing them for the convenience of the public.

"The delays are caused, among other issues, by the following;

- System challenges such as down time, loss of connectivity, power outages and slow processing for retrieval of verification information.

- Incomplete information submitted by the applicants and subsequent delays in the submission of the missing information. In some cases, motorists have to seek such information from their sellers or from various regulators before returning to resume the processing of their application, only when the full information has been submitted.

- The need for thorough verification by the Authority given that a number of imported vehicles in Zimbabwe have turned out to be irregularly imported.

- Covid-19 induced disruptions such as infection and isolation of staff, isolation of infected and affected officers (at times whole teams), resultant office closure to allow disinfection and other preventative precautions," reads a statement by Zimra.

Zimra added: "The influx of email messages is noted and the authority, through its ICT support division is working on a wide range of solutions covering a number of system based services, including increasing software and hardware infrastructural capacity. This will also address management of email information besides enabling efficient processes."

Businessman and a security expert Mr Brian Kashangura said ZIMRA should revamp its system.

"The ZIMRA system, instead of promoting the ease of doing business, it is fuelling corruption. Their email communication is poor and at times they do not respond  to emails at all.  Businesses and individuals end up engaging agents, who will obviously corrupt employees from both ZIMRA and the Central Vehicle Registry (CVR)," he said.

For example, the ZIMRA system has not been working since the beginning of this year, giving problems to the issuance of Tax Clearance Certificates.

"As we speak, many businesses are operating without tax clearance certificates, not because they are not compliant, but because the ZIMRA IT system is failing them. As long as the Zimra IT system is not enhanced, corruption at CVR will not end, even if the number plates are available," said Mr Kashangura.

A motorist ,Mr Gabriel Muchinenyika, said he was struggling to effect change of ownership due to the delays at ZIMRA.

At Southerton Police, he said, the process flows smoothly with motorists physically taking their vehicles for vetting.

"The delay is experienced at ZIMRA where we are asked to send our papers via email and they take weeks to respond.

"At times, some emails do not get any responses. By the time they respond, they may ask you to correct certain things, which also delays the process further," he said.

Ms Rutendo Mangwanda said she had to park the vehicle after getting no response from ZIMRA for weeks.

"My messages bounced back on several occasions and I had to shelve the idea. I will do the process once their house is in order,.

Responding to concerns from people who do not have access to the internet, ZIMRA said it was moving towards a paperless system and people should adjust and move with the times.

"While the use of online communication was largely encouraged during the strict lockdown period, it should also be noted that the authority is moving towards modernisation and paperless processes, including the introduction of e-services.

"The public is urged to move with the times and embrace evolving technological developments, especially as these create increased convenience for the public, with most services now available on ICT platforms, which can be accessed in the comfort on your home," reads ZIMRA's statement.

ZIMRA said it was adding a number of services, including the processing of change of ownership for vehicles, to the e-services portal to enable the public to access more services from the comfort of their homes.

Management, ZIMRA said, will continue to maintain close staff supervision to ensure officers acknowledge and respond to email and all other correspondence to assure the public their issues are receiving attention.

The Authority said it has since put in place a strategy to clear any backlog of applications for change of ownership at any of its offices to prevent continued accumulation of applications.