Reply (The Minister of Land Transport): I am informed by the Registrar General’s Department that for the month of June this year, there was an exceptional upsurge in the number of transactions processed at its level given that 30 June 2025 was the deadline set for the taxation on the previous regime for acquisition of a new or a second-hand imported vehicle. I am further informed by the Registrar General’s Department that no significant queueing was observed with regard to new vehicles and 94% of all transactions by new and second-hand imported motor vehicle dealers are done online. According to the Registrar General’s Department, there was a virtual queue for the registration of new vehicles, and same was addressed with the implementation of extra hours of work by its officers. All the 8,319 transactions relating to new motor vehicles were registered within the statutory time limit, that is, by 30 June 2025. The Registrar General’s Department has also confirmed that as from 01 July 2025, there is an influx of customers calling at its office at the Emmanuel Anquetil Building, Port Louis, for the registration of second-hand motor vehicles from the local market since most of the potential buyers have waited for the removal of registration duty on such transactions to be effective. However, I am apprised by the Registrar General’s Office that this outpouring in transactions is temporary. Nevertheless, the following measures have been taken by the Registrar General’s Department to mitigate inconveniences – (a) opening of counters as from 08:30 hours in the morning instead of 09:00 hours; (b) setting up of dedicated counters for fleet dealers and frequent users; (c) extension of the opening hours of counters, and (d) temporary deployment of additional staff at the counters. Concurrently, the Registrar General’s Department has embarked on an aggressive sensitisation campaign to encourage the public to optimise the use of its existing online services rather than calling to the physical counters. As regards part (b) of the question, as announced in the electoral manifesto, Government endeavours to decentralise the services of the NLTA to enhance proximity with its customers.

133 In fact, my Ministry is going one step further with arrangements which are ongoing for the setting up of a Vehicle Registration and Transfer Centre at Phoenix whereby both the NLTA and the Registrar General’s Department will be housed under a single roof to provide a one-stop shop service to the customers. This new service is expected to be operational in the forthcoming months as announced in the Budget 2025-2026. Moreover, this facility would be replicated in other regions in due course. SODNAC WELLNESS PARK – OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT – PROPOSED REPLACEMENT