The South African Post Office reports that there has been a “healthy” uptake of its online motor vehicle licence renewal facility, which was launched at the end of January. 

More than 37 000 vehicle licences have thus far been renewed nationally through the system since then – most of them in Gauteng.

The Post Office said on August 2 that the initial teething problems had been resolved and that the system, which is available at https://www.sapomvl.co.za, now works efficiently.

The full renewal process, including payment, can be done online. Access to the physical licence disc can be achieved either by having it delivered by the Post Office to the customer for an added fee of R75, or by collecting the disc at no additional cost from the customer’s preferred Post Office branch. 

Payment can be done through the Masterpass application, which can be downloaded from the Google Play Store for Android devices or the Apple App Store for Apple devices.

The Post Office is licensed to carry out car licence renewals, which means that no commission will be charged on the renewal transaction. 

The documents required when renewing one’s licence at a Post Office branch have to be uploaded for the online renewal. These comprise a certified copy of the car owner’s identity document and, for cars registered in KwaZulu-Natal, proof of address not older than three months.

The customer will then receive an SMS when the disc arrives at the destined Post Office for collection or when it goes out for delivery. The turnaround time is ten working days.

The online renewal facility for motor vehicle licences does not replace the current renewal service available at selected Post Office branches. 

The Post Office said many customers preferred to pay for their licence and leave immediately with the new licence, which they can do at a Post Office branch. As with the online renewal, the customer pays only the licence fee as it appears on the renewal notice and the Post Office does not charge any commission.

The service is available for vehicle owners in all provinces of South Africa, except in the Western Cape.