Revenue from temporary vehicle registration stickers surpasses entire 2025 earnings, with DVLA citing tighter controls at Ghana’s ports.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has recorded a sharp increase in revenue from temporary vehicle registration stickers, generating more than GH¢27 million between January and September 2026 following reforms to curb revenue leakages at Ghana’s ports.
The revenue, generated from the issuance of temporary registration stickers, has already exceeded the GH¢22 million recorded throughout 2025, highlighting the financial impact of changes introduced to the distribution of temporary registration plates, commonly known as DP plates.
DVLA Chief Executive Officer Julius Neequaye Kotey disclosed the figures at the Government Accountability Series on Monday, October 12, 2026, attributing the increase to the introduction of tamper-proof digital stickers and stricter controls requiring vehicles to obtain the stickers before leaving the ports.
The authority issued approximately 134,000 stickers in the first nine months of 2026, compared with 111,101 stickers throughout 2025 and 76,312 DP plates in 2024.
The figures point to a significant expansion in both the volume of temporary registrations processed and the revenue accruing to the government.
Revenue climbs from GH¢15m to more than GH¢27m
Providing a breakdown of the authority’s performance, Mr Kotey said the DVLA generated GH¢15 million from 76,312 DP plates in 2024.
In 2025, revenue increased to GH¢22 million after the authority issued 111,101 stickers.
The upward trend accelerated in 2026, with revenue exceeding GH¢27 million in just nine months.
“Upon assumption of office, we immediately replaced the aluminium plates with tamper-proof digital stickers,” Mr Kotey said, explaining that the intervention was intended to address weaknesses in the previous distribution system.
He said the requirement for every vehicle to receive a sticker before leaving the port had strengthened accountability and helped ensure that revenue from the process was channelled to the government.
The latest figures suggest that the digital system has strengthened the authority’s capacity to capture revenue from temporary vehicle registration, although the precise contribution of the technology compared with other operational changes was not disclosed.
Port revenue leakages under scrutiny
The reforms followed what the DVLA chief described as massive revenue leakages in the sale and distribution of DP plates at the country’s ports of entry.
By replacing aluminium plates with tamper-proof digital stickers and tightening the issuance process, the authority sought to improve tracking and reduce opportunities for transactions to go unrecorded.
The increase in collections has placed the spotlight on how weaknesses in the former system may have affected public revenue.
However, Mr Kotey did not disclose the estimated amount lost under the previous arrangement or provide details of the specific irregularities identified.
He also did not provide a breakdown showing how much of the revenue increase could be directly attributed to the new digital stickers, improved enforcement or the higher number of stickers issued.
Such information would help establish the full financial impact of the reforms and provide a clearer measure of the revenue that may previously have escaped collection.
Questions remain over the scale of recovered revenue
While the latest figures demonstrate improved revenue performance, the extent of the gains will ultimately depend on the authority’s ability to sustain the controls and provide transparent accounting for collections.
The increase from GH¢15 million in 2024 to more than GH¢27 million in the first nine months of 2026 represents a substantial improvement in reported revenue from the process.
For businesses importing vehicles into Ghana, the changes also underscore the growing role of digital systems in vehicle registration and regulatory compliance at the ports.
The DVLA’s next challenge will be to demonstrate that the gains are sustainable and that the new system delivers measurable improvements in revenue assurance, operational efficiency and accountability.
A disclosure of the losses identified under the former system, alongside the cost of implementing the digital sticker programme, would provide a more complete assessment of the reform’s value to the public purse.
Tighten the investigative endingClarify sticker and plate terminology.
