The National Road Safety Authority, as part of its responsibility to oversee the road transport industry, with a special focus on road transport service providers, has started the registration procedure for road transport service providers.
Road transport service providers, including transport firms, unions, school bus services, tyre service centers, garages, and transport sections of all State Agencies, will be required by law to register with the Authority starting in March 2024.
According to the law, all providers of road transport services must be registered in order to avoid legal consequences.
As per the NRSA, the exercise is a component of endeavors aimed at guaranteeing the ongoing enhancement of road safety and service quality within the road transport industry.
During a working tour to the North East and Savannah Regions, Kwame Koduah Atuahene, the Authority’s Director of Regulations, Inspections, and Compliance, made the announcement.
The target organizations can now follow very easy and simple steps on an electronic platform called TransportGhana as a result of the registration process being digitalized, he explained in a meeting with the leadership of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union branch in Damango and the Nazori Transport in Nalerigu. He describes TransportGhana as a smooth technology or ICT interface that facilitates, among other things, the licensing and registration of road transport service providers, the monitoring of compliance with road safety standards, e-ticketing, e-passenger manifests, vehicle tracking, and service locator apps for approved services. The goal of TransportGhana is to guarantee a road transport system that is convenient, safe, and compliant with regulations.
He stated that the authority’s current goal is to convince all service providers, particularly unions, school bus operators, transport operators, and tire centers, to voluntarily register on the platform by the end of 2024. If this goal is not met, strict measures will be put in place to guarantee compliance.
According to him, the Authority might also send out some of its employees to help service providers who might be experiencing issues with the system.
Mr. Koduah Atuahene provided background information on the directive, stating that since parliament approved the National Road Safety Regulations, 2022 (L.I.2468) in 2023, the Authority has been designated as the lead Regulatory Authority for Road Safety and Road Transport services, in addition to its traditional responsibilities.
The Authority’s Director of Regulations and Inspections clarified that L.I.2468 assigns the Authority the duty of policing services in the road transport industry to guarantee that clients are satisfied with the caliber of care they receive from road transport service providers in addition to being safe.
He went on to say that the National Road Safety Authority has two hats to wear when carrying out its mandate: on the one hand, it has to guarantee that road traffic crashes, injuries, and fatalities do not affect any category of road user through research and campaigns; and on the other hand, it must ensure that the road transport industry’s service quality is improved. He continued by saying that the first step in the job is to create a database of road transport service providers through licensing, registration, and permits. One of the main requirements for registration is evidence of the legally required competencies for the target service.
He asserts that State transportation departments are required to designate trained transport officers/managers to oversee their fleet, whereas Transport Operators are required to have transport heads or safety officers.
According to him, importers should only bring in standard or permitted equipment, and tire technicians must comprehend how their work affects traffic safety.
National Road Safety Authority