Number plates deal riles MPs
The Parliamentary Committee on Transport and Public Infrastructure has given the Malawi Bureau of Standards 21 days to meet with firms that have misgivings with it on the issue of number plates supply deals. The committee has indicated to The Daily Times that it has made the move after being inundated with reports of“ poor quality number plates”.
By Isaac Salima:
The Parliamentary Committee on Transport and Public Infrastructure has given the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) 21 days to meet with firms that have misgivings with it on the issue of number plates supply deals.
The committee has indicated to The Daily Times that it has made the move after being inundated with reports of “poor quality number plates”.
Committee chairperson Enock Phale said they raised concerns with MBS officials when they engaged each other in a meeting held on Friday.
“This [the meeting] was organised in response to complaints we have received, to the effect that regulators in the number plates business are not opening it up to others, a development that is leading to monopoly, thereby compromising standards.
“We also understand that some players that expressed interest in the business of supplying number plates suspected foul play on how the contracts were awarded. We also received complaints on the quality of number plates, where many were not durable as they were easily fading, a thing that was compromising road safety. MBS officials have now told us that they have opened up as there are 17 prospective suppliers that will be considered to join the market,” Phale said.
He said, as one way of ensuring that the process of opening up the number plates market goes smoothly, they have asked MBS to iron out outstanding issues with players in the industry.
“To this effect, we have given MBS 21 days to meet with some of the firms that raised concerns so that they can resolve differences.
“There are firms that imported number plates into the country but failed to meet standards. We want MBS to engage such players to resolve all outstanding issues and we will keenly follow up on the issue,” he said.
The meeting came after the initial one failed to take place after committee members sent back MBS officials due to the absence of the director general.
Meanwhile, Directorate of Road Traffic and Safety Services (DRTSS) Director General Andrew Sandula has corroborated Phale’s sentiments.
He further said Motor Vehicle Spares and Accessories (Movesa), one of the players in the industry, only has an embosser licence, meaning that they can only print numbers on blank plates.
Last year, the Competition and Fair Trading Commission CFTC) fined MBS and DRTSS K500,000 each over anti-competitive practices.
In the determination, CFTC faulted the two institutions for allowing Movesa to import blank plates despite failing a pre-shipment sample.
The commission also faulted DRTSS for engaging in anti-competitive conduct by influencing the granting of a waiver to Movesa to import the number plates.
