By Annelia Nixon

anixon@tribunemedia.net

Multiple rental car owners yesterday voiced frustration at their inability to obtain insurance for vehicles, while still having to pay full franchise fees, due to a shortage of self-drive licence plates.

Several, speaking to Tribune Business on condition of anonymity, urged the Road Traffic Department to ease the burden for those waiting for an extended period of time by reducing the fees or providing temporary plates.

One Eleuthera-based operator alleged they have been waiting for two vehicle licence plates approved from March 2023. Another in New Providence said they had been waiting five or six months. The former said this has prevented him from obtaining insurance and so his vehicles can get on the road, while alleging that they still have to pay full franchise fees despite the wait for plates.

“Okay, so we were approved for our franchise for six plates actually last year; I think it’s around March,” the Eleuthera operator said. “So we were able to get four of the plates, but we are still waiting on two of the plates since last year March.”

Sherry Gibson, Road Traffic’s Family Islands manager, told this newspaper that the waiting period for plates has not been that long and suggested it had been “maybe two months”.

She added that the delays are a nationwide problem and, because the Road Traffic Department recently changed the design of the plates, it is currently waiting for replacements. “The only thing is we changed our plate from the yellow plates to the white plates, so we’re waiting for replacement plates and they’re making new plates and it’s a back-up, that’s all,” Ms Gibson said.

She also pointed to mechanical issues as exacerbating the problem, explaining that the plate-making machine does not work all the time. “Well, remember now, the machine don’t work all the time. It’s man-made,” Ms Gibson said.

As for the franchise fees, Ms Gibson explained: “If they paying for the franchise, that means basically they already have their plates. Maybe not all of them, but they get some of them. Well, it’s mandatory. Once the franchise expires, you have to renew it and if you don’t renew it, then you might lose it.”

But rental car owners argued that they should not be punished because of Road Traffic’s shortcomings. They suggested that the Department “put a temporary fix in place” to address the inconvenience.

“They should still go ahead and let us licence the vehicle until they get their plates. I don’t think we should be at a disadvantage,” one operator said. “We shouldn’t be the ones suffering because they don’t have the plates and they’re still making us pay for the franchise knowing fully well they don’t have plates.

“If they could put a temporary fix in place to allow us to licence vehicles until they get their plates, since we already paying for the franchise, I think it’ll only be fair if they allow us to still go ahead and licence.” 

The Nassau-based owner said: “If you’re having to pay for the franchise while not making money from the franchise, I don’t think it’s fair for them to have to pay all of it. Let’s say the franchise fee at the end of the day is $100. I think they could probably give them a break, and they’ll pay $50 or $60, but the whole $100? I don’t think that is fair, but they’re probably still going to charge them the whole $100.

“I think at this point, if the plates cannot be presented within the next month or two, and this is something that they’re sure about, something temporary needs to happen. Even if you talk about moving back to the old plates that people used to use.

“I think when they first started they used the black ones or green ones, I can’t remember, but even if you move back to something like that temporarily, just for two, three months, and you are able to produce more of the white plates, then sure.

“Something needs to be done because if, for the rest of the year, the machine isn’t working well, whatever the situation is, you can’t continue to run the same story by people. It’s not fair to anybody. So a solution has to be made. Any solution.”

The Eleuthera-based owner said the winter tourism season is quickly approaching in November, and he as well as many other car rental owners are still unable to get their vehicles on the road because of the lack of self-drive plates at the Road Traffic Department.