The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) has come out to condemn the AARTO bill which is penciled in to commence on the first of July. Despite time being limited to just three days, OUTA states that the new law cannot take effect until the official start date has been gazetted; this has not yet been done.
OUTA states that the rollout for AARTO has not been properly planned and that its legal challenge to the act is due in court this October. It adds that the agency charged with implementation has refused to provide any information on readiness.
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The start date of demerit system, as we recently detailed, has not been gazetted which means if it does in fact get passed for the first of July, it will be a last-minute authorisation. OUTA argues that this would not be an ideal way to start a process as complicated as this. Despite the system being signed into law in August 2019, nearly two years ago, a start date has never been gazetted.
OUTA suggests that if the authorities are ready to implement AARTO, it’s possible that they could be keeping it a secret. The organisation had filed a request last year to the RTIA asking for information relating to the readiness of the rollout and details of the payment platforms but an answer was never provided.
Adding further criticism to the rollout is the Automobile Association who states that there are too many questions about the implementation that remain unanswered. The AA asks whether or not motorists will be receiving AARTO infringement notices or standard fines from the first of July and notes that no timeframes have been listed for the competition of phase one, what the other phases of the rollout entail, and what timeframes have been set for their initiation and completion.
“We raised concerns earlier this month about the lack of information, and the exact timeframes for the implementation of AARTO. While there has been some reporting on the phased approach which will be followed, this has not been widely communicated to the public by the RTIA. Individuals and businesses are rightly concerned because AARTO will have an impact on them, especially on businesses as the costs of compliance with the system will be high,
“In October last year we raised our concerns that AARTO does not support government’s stated intention of promoting road safety but that it is instead a more effective mechanism for revenue collection. We raised these and other concerns in our submission on the proposed amendments to the AARTO regulations. Sadly, there has been no clarification on the final AARTO Act, and motorists throughout the country are still unsure of what will happen come 1 July,”
“The introduction of AARTO is a major development for road users in South Africa and the RTIA and the Department of Transport must do more to inform the public on what is happening. It’s only fair that details on a system that will have such significant impacts on motoring in the country are communicated clearly so everyone knows precisely where they stand in relation to the new rules,” the AA concludes.
