Johannesburg – The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) on Tuesday launched a groundbreaking solution together with WeBuyCars to allow for the registration of motor vehicles and change of ownership online.
The initiative was designed to create a seamless, convenient, and efficient method for motor vehicle dealers and financial institutions to transact directly online with Natis without the physical handling of documents and visits to registering authorities.
Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga commended WeBuyCars for partnering with the RTMC in the development of the system.
You have shown patriotism and I call on other large dealerships and financial institutions to follow your good example and help us to improve service delivery in our country, said Minister Chikunga.
Previously WeBuyCars used the services of a middleman to register and change ownership of vehicles.
This process required the filling in of large amounts of forms and taking them to queue at licensing authorities to register and/or change ownership of vehicles.
This exercise was not only costly but also opened an opportunity for corruption.
WeBuyCars CEO Faan van der Walt said: WeBuyCars is delighted to be partnering with RTMC in this initiative and we look forward to providing our customers with a more streamlined and effective method of transacting.
“WeBuyCars is built on a technology platform and given the RTMC is working on more enhancements, we are always ready to provide assistance where we can.
The innovation and technology teams from both organisations have worked to develop interface systems to allow vehicle dealers and financial institutions to conduct online vehicle registration and change of ownership transactions on the Natis.
The system was tested over a couple of months and is now operational.
A total of 3.2 million vehicle registration and change of ownership transactions are conducted on Natis annually and it is estimated that 50% of these are conducted by large institutions such as dealers and financial institutions.
The RTMC is working on further enhancements to allow private individuals to conduct online vehicle registration and change of ownership subject to strict requirements.
The launch followed months of development and testing with WeBuyCars to pave the way for a smooth introduction.
The RTMC said the initiative was the latest in several technological improvements that have been introduced on the Natis system/platform to improve service delivery to make it easy for stakeholders to transact.
“These include the vehicle clearance interface implemented to ensure that all police clearances could be captured online by the South African Police Service,” said the RTMC.
This was followed by the implementation of an online Hire Purchase Interface (HPI) to assist the motor vehicle finance and insurance industry to verify vehicle particulars and driving licences of applicants before granting finance or insurance for a vehicle.
The online licensing of vehicles was introduced
In 2022, and it presented owners of vehicles with convenient access to services from the comfort of their homes 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“A total of seven hundred and eight thousand, three hundred and thirty (708 330) vehicle licences have been renewed on the online platform since last year,” revealed the RTMC.
Following the launch of online vehicle licence services, the RTMC has been on a continuous pursuit of using technology and innovation to provide efficiency in all areas of road traffic management.
The RTMC said this resulted in the engagement of private sector stakeholders such as WeBuyCars to develop improved business-to-business solutions.
WeBuyCars was among the first companies to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the RTMC in this regard.
