The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) is setting up its own vehicle number plate manufacturing centre and will no longer rely on third parties or imports to produce number plates.
The Authority has initiated construction of the centre, to be hosted on the premises of its Greater Accra Regional office. It is expected to be completed within three months and will begin producing new number plates embedded with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.
The Chief Executive Officer of DVLA, Julius Neequaye Kortey, cut the sod on Friday, August 28, 2026, to signify the start of construction works. He explained that the manufacturing centre forms part of the DVLA's transformational reforms, aimed at improving the security of number plates used in the country. "The sod that has been cut today demonstrates the government's commitment to reposition the DVLA as a key institution in the road transport sector," he said.
Kortey said that once completed and operationalised, the centre would ensure the supply of high-quality number plates and curb the influx of fake ones in the system.
Describing the initiative as a paradigm shift, he said it was the strongest indication that the Authority is moving steadily towards becoming modern, self-reliant and capable of providing essential services in the transport sector. "When we manufacture our plates, we will distribute them to our offices for embossment," he said, adding that the move would bring the service closer to the people. He said every region across the country would be given an embossment machine, with Greater Accra and Ashanti receiving five and three machines respectively, owing to the volume of vehicles in those regions.
Kortey stressed that the decision to manufacture and emboss plates in-house was not intended to deprive private embossers of their livelihood, but to introduce stronger regulation. "What we are saying is that the era where anyone gets the means to manufacture or emboss number plates is a thing of the past. DVLA will regulate embossers to do things right," he said, adding that qualified embossers would be spread across the country to ensure quality control.
Touching on other ongoing reforms, Kortey said the Authority is moving towards a system where every office produces its own cards, and that all licence renewals and replacements would eventually be processed at DVLA offices. He also disclosed that the DVLA has started cloning vehicles to ensure all imported cars pay the required duties.
He further revealed that the Authority is considering introducing a points deduction system for drivers to enforce road discipline. Under the proposed system, drivers would be allocated points upon acquiring or renewing their licence, with points deducted for bad driving habits. A driver who loses all their points would have their licence withdrawn until they undergo retraining at DVLA offices.
The DVLA currently does not manufacture or emboss its own number plates, relying instead on imports or third-party producers, a system that has raised concerns over plate quality and the circulation of fake number plates.
