After years of providing several of its services free of cost to the public, the Island Traffic Authority (ITA), will be moving to charge Administrative Fees for these services in a bid to recover related operational costs as well as to improve its overall offerings.

The proposed charges are to come into effect on December 1, 2014 following consultations with the Ministry of Finance and Planning.

The charges, which were previously absorbed by the ITA, have become necessary due to the need for the Authority to generate income to assist with the maintenance of its facilities, the Director of the ITA, Ludlow Powell, says.

“For a long time, the Authority has grappled with the idea of charging for many of the services it provides to the public but a decision on the matter has had to be deferred until a proper analysis of the situation could be done,” said Powell. “We have found that the number of requests made in several of these categories have put the Authority in a position where it will no longer be feasible to provide these services without some level of cost recovery. Services such as Garage/Estate Visits are time-consuming and costly exercises for the Authority. He pointed out however that most of the new charges would affect commercial concerns and not the ‘regular everyday individual’. Among the changes the imposition of the fees will spawn is a modernized and self-sufficient entity, Minister without portfolio in the Transport Ministry, Hon. Dr Morais Guy noted.

“There is no doubt as to the benefits that can result from such a move. It will go a long way in putting the Island Traffic Authority on a path where it has to rely less on government assistance. It will also greatly improve the ITA’s capacity to respond to the needs of its customers – having a comfortable waiting area, up-to date technology to respond to queries in a timely manner; all of these things will be enhanced,” Dr. Guy said.

The services which will now attract Administrative fees are as follows:

• Insurance Requests – $7,000.00
• Garage/Estate Visit – $15,000.00 for up to 10 vehicles; $500.00 for every additional vehicle
• Special Permits Processing Fee – $2,500.00
• Driving History and Substitute Licence – $3,000.00
• Engravement – $10,000.00
• Verification of Year of Manufacture – $12,000.00
• Customs Verification – $7,000.00
• Chassis Verification – $7,000.00
• Structural Verification of Integrity – $20,000.00

The new administrative fees are projected to yield revenues of approximately $174M annually for the ITA.