The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has impounded 357 vehicles suspected of having cloned chassis numbers or entering Ghana without the required customs procedures and handed them over to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
Chief Executive Officer Julius Neequaye Kotey disclosed this at the Government Accountability Series at the Jubilee House on Monday, October 12, 2026, saying the action followed the introduction of On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) devices to verify vehicle identification details and detect irregularities before registration.
He explained that some individuals had allegedly brought vehicles into Ghana through unapproved routes and obtained identification details associated with vehicles on which customs duties had already been paid.
This created a situation in which the same vehicle identification details could be used fraudulently, potentially allowing imported vehicles to evade the appropriate taxes and duties.
“With the introduction of these OBD devices, we can detect cloned and uncustomed vehicles,” Mr Kotey said.
“These vehicles are impounded and handed over to Customs to charge the appropriate taxes before they can be registered.”
He said the Authority’s records showed that 357 vehicles had been impounded and transferred to the GRA as of October 9, 2026.
The CEO said the intervention was intended to protect government revenue, improve the integrity of vehicle registration and prevent vehicles with questionable import or identification records from being registered without proper checks.
The development complements other DVLA reforms, including the introduction of tamper-proof dealer’s plate stickers and plans for RFID-enabled number plates designed to strengthen vehicle identification and enforcement.
