The traffic register number your business needs before it can own a vehicle

Who needs one

The regulations define acceptable identification for whoever is recorded as the title holder and the owner of a vehicle. A natural person uses an identity document. A company or close corporation may use its CIPC registration certificate. Everything else needs a traffic register number certificate issued under regulation 335.

In practice many licensing offices want the traffic register number even from companies, because it is what links the organisation to a proxy who can be held responsible for fines and for the accuracy of what is submitted.

The proxy, and why it matters more than people think

An organisation cannot appear at a licensing counter. Regulation 336 requires it to appoint a proxy, and each branch may have one proxy and one representative, who may be the same person. The appointment is made by a letter of proxy, and it binds the organisation for everything done under the road traffic legislation.

The part that catches business owners: for the purposes of the Criminal Procedure Act the proxy is deemed to be a director of the organisation. That is the mechanism by which a traffic fine issued to a company ends up attached to a named human being. Appoint someone who will still be there in three years, keep a copy of the letter of proxy with the vehicle file, and update it at the registering authority the moment that person leaves.

What to take to the registering authority

• Form ANR, the application and notice in respect of a traffic register number, completed and signed. The same form is used later to notify a change of particulars or a change of proxy.
• The letter of proxy, appointing the natural person who will act for the organisation.
• Certified copies of the identity documents of the proxy, the representative and anyone nominated as a signatory.
• The business registration document: the CIPC certificate for a company or close corporation, the trust deed and letters of authority for a trust, the partnership agreement, or the constitution for an association.
• Proof of address, usually a municipal account or utility bill. If it is not in the organisation’s name, an affidavit from the person whose name is on it.

The fee is set provincially, not nationally, so confirm it with your registering authority. You will be issued a certificate on form RNC once the number is allocated.

Then the vehicle itself

1. Registration within 21 days. Form RLV, submitted by the title holder within twenty-one days of the date of liability. For a used vehicle you need the seller’s registration certificate, proof of purchase and a roadworthy certificate if the existing one is more than sixty days old.
2. The seller has a duty too. A notice of change of ownership must be submitted by the seller. If they do not, the vehicle stays in their name and the fines keep going to them, which is why buyers should get proof it was lodged.
3. Licensing is annual. The licence renewal comes as a notice, or you use the application form at a registering authority, selected post offices or the online NaTIS service. There is a twenty-one day grace period after expiry, and then penalties and arrears accrue.
4. Business vehicles need the pack every time. The business registration certificate, the proxy’s identity document and the letter of proxy come out at every counter visit. Keep a certified set in the file.
5. Some classes always need a roadworthy. Goods vehicles over 3 500 kg, buses, minibuses carrying twelve or more, and any vehicle operated for reward carry a standing roadworthy requirement rather than only on change of ownership.

What actually goes wrong

• Buying first, registering later. The twenty-one days runs from liability, not from the day your paperwork is finally in order, and a traffic register number can take weeks.
• A proxy who has left the company. Fines and notices keep going to a person who no longer works there, and nobody responds to them until a warrant appears.
• Proof of address in the director’s name. Without the supporting affidavit it is refused at the counter.
• Assuming the seller did the change of ownership. Get the receipt. Otherwise the vehicle is legally still theirs.
• Missing the licence renewal. Twenty-one days of grace, then penalties, and an unlicensed vehicle on the road is a fine on top of the arrears.

Frequently asked questions