DVLA Impounds 357 Vehicles Over Customs Duty Issues, Registers 7,700 Excavators

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has registered more than 7,700 excavators and impounded 357 vehicles suspected of customs irregularities as part of efforts to strengthen vehicle verification and enforcement across the country.

The Chief Executive of the DVLA, Julius Neequaye Kotey, disclosed the figures at the Government Accountability Series on Monday, October 12, 2026, explaining that the measures were intended to improve the tracking of excavators and prevent vehicles with unpaid customs duties from being registered.

Mr Kotey said the excavator registration exercise was introduced in collaboration with the Minerals Commission to help authorities monitor the movement and activities of excavators entering the country through designated ports of entry.

“Over 7,700 excavators have been registered under this very project,” he said, noting that the initiative addressed gaps in the registration and tracking of excavators before the current administration assumed office.

He further revealed that the Authority had acquired on-board diagnostic (OBD) devices to verify vehicle identification numbers and detect cases involving cloned identification numbers and vehicles that had not been properly cleared through customs.

According to him, some importers bring vehicles into Ghana through unapproved routes and attempt to register them using identification numbers belonging to vehicles for which the required customs duties have already been paid.

He explained that the practice can result in duplicate chassis numbers in the DVLA’s database, creating difficulties for legitimate vehicle owners seeking to register their vehicles.

Mr Kotey said the introduction of the diagnostic devices had enhanced the Authority’s capacity to detect such irregularities and prevent vehicles from being registered until the necessary customs requirements had been met.

“Our last record shows that by 10-09-2026, 357 vehicles have been impounded and handed over to the Ghana Revenue Authority to ensure the payment of the required customs duties,” he said.

The measures form part of the DVLA’s broader efforts to improve regulatory compliance, strengthen vehicle identification and ensure that imported vehicles meet the necessary registration and customs requirements.