TIPS ON THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT NUMBER PLATES AND VEHICLE REGISTRATIONS

By Nnamdi Ikeh-Akabogu (FRSCN)

1. Do you know that FRSC’s responsibility is to design and produce vehicle Number Plates by virtue of Section 5(g) and Section 10, Sub-Section 3(f) of the Federal Road Safety Commission (Establishment) Act 2007? After production, the Number Plates are handed over to the State Boards​ of Internal Revenue which are now issued to the public.

2. In 2011, The Federal Road Safety Commission in conjunction with the Joint Tax Board (JTB), commenced the issuance of the new Number Plates in an attempt to harmonise all existing modes of licensing vehicles nationwide.

This according to the Corps Marshall and Chief Executive was part of the Commission’s strategy towards restoring order and sanity in the nation’s Motor Vehicle Administration Scheme.

To this end FRSC introduced an Enterprise System called National Vehicle Identification System (NVIS) which is a unified system designed to automate the processes involved in the Number Plate Production and Vehicle Registration.

NVIS is open to members of the public who are Vehicle Owners as well as representatives of States, Federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies.

3. For the avoidance of doubt, you can verify your vehicle number plate using any of the following:

1. Visit nvisng.frsc.gov.ng/NumberPlateVerification.aspx and verify the number plate;
2. Text verifyplateno (Plate Number) to 33324 on your mobile phone e.g verifyplateno ABC000JR;
3. Visit the FRSC Desk officers at the State Boards​ of Internal Revenue (SBIRs).

In summary, the verification portal provides four options when verifying number plates, depending on the stage of registration as follows:

1. a) Number not produced but tried to be registered by any applicant will result in an “Invalid Number Plate”;

1. b) When a number is produced but not registered/ data not uploaded, this is the message you, “Number produced but not Registered”;

1. c) When a number is produced and registered without a genuine Insurance policy that is verifiable by NIIDB, the message you get is what the complainant got “Number plate has been assigned to Lexus Jeep. However, vehicle registration is yet to be completed.”;

1. d) When registration is fully completed with a genuine Insurance Policy resulting in the printing of Proof of Ownership, the message will be “Number plate has been produced by FRSC and assigned to say TOYOTA HIGHLANDER on 6/11/2013”

The traffic expert is DCC Nnamdi Ikeh-Akabogu, DCC Morning and Evaluation (M&E), Special Duties and External Relations (SEDER), FRCC HQ, Abuja.