Complete vehicle ownership transfers or face legal risks – DVLA warns motorists

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) is urging motorists to ensure they complete the full transfer-of-ownership process when buying or selling vehicles, warning that failure to do so could expose them to serious legal risks.

According to the Authority, the call forms part of ongoing vehicle registration reforms aimed at addressing persistent challenges where individuals use vehicles they cannot legally prove ownership of due to incomplete documentation.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, the DVLA’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Stephen Attuh, noted that many motorists assume ownership simply by possessing a vehicle or using its number plate, even though the legal title remains in another person’s name.

He explained that such situations often create complications when vehicles are involved in crimes, road infractions, or ownership disputes, as law enforcement agencies rely on DVLA records to identify the legally registered owner.

Mr. Attuh said the revised registration process now ensures that vehicle titles are issued directly to individuals at the point of first registration, whether the vehicle is newly imported or being registered in Ghana for the first time. However, he stressed that for second-hand vehicles, buyers must complete the official transfer-of-ownership process with the DVLA to legally assume ownership.

“So we realize that it gets to the point where a person owns a vehicle, and yet the person may not be able to produce documents specifically to indicate that the person owns a vehicle. This process is to allow people to have full transfer of ownership. You know, you could have a car, you would sell the car to me and sometimes you still hold on to the document and yet because I go ahead to use the number plate on the vehicle, I assume that I have title to the car. I don’t have one. If there’s an issue that arises right now, they need the true owner of that vehicle to show up.

“So what we seek to do now is that if you your own brand new, or you bought a vehicle that has not been registered here in Ghana before, you want to register with all the documentation, we hand over the title, specifically to you as an individual so you can call it your car. Again, if then the vehicle has been preowned by another person, you would want to ensure that you do the proper transfer system so that you can call it your vehicle.”

He stressed that the reforms are aimed at strengthening accountability, improving vehicle traceability, and ensuring that ownership records are clear, accurate, and legally defensible.