Bamako: the new E-tax expected to give relief to motorcyclists
This article is a collaboration between the Journalism and Media Lab (Jamlab), ASToN and Civic Tech Innovation Network (CTIN).
The Malian capital of three million inhabitants is planning to digitalise the payment of the motorcycle licence for two-wheelers. To do so, Bamako joined a network of 11 African cities developing leading and innovative digital projects to transform in an inclusive and sustainable way: the African Smart Town Network (ASToN). This project aims to assist cities in their digital transition, through peer learning and sharing, over a period of 4 years, between 2019 and 2022. In the case of Bamako, the “E-tax” reform will soon be in its pilot phase, with full implementation expected in 2023.
Like many other Sahelian cities, cars share the traffic with many motorcyclists in Bamako. From January onwards, young Bocary Coulibaly, like 500,000 other motorcyclists, will have to buy a licence to continue driving legally. “I often do it at the beginning of the year as soon as I am told that it is out, those who do it late are confronted with long queues. Queues that sometimes stretch for kilometres, especially on the last few days,” the young man from Bamako says.
The motorcycle licence or “vignette” is the municipality’s largest source of revenue. But there are many issues in its management, both internally and externally, with increased risks of loss of revenue.
Because of fraud issues, the city decided to stop issuing duplicates, used by free riders to pay less than the basic price of the licence, which costs between FCFA 5,000 and 12,000 (€8 to €19).
The management of cash inflows is also an issue, money is handled by agents who make traceability impossible. “Agents receive cash daily and there is no system to control the issuance of licences,” according to Hamadou Yalcouye, the local coordinator of ASToN for Bamako.
Currently, the printing of licences is entrusted to a private company with the risk that prototypes will be diverted from the formal channel or even falsified. Moreover, the city invests about 300 million FCFA (€461,000) in the production of licences without a database and needs are estimated, with an elevated risk of unsold licences. The control of the licences by the police can be very problematic since they “only have their eyes to check the authenticity of the vignette,” Yalcouye points out.
To address all these problems, a project to digitise the tax is in the pipeline. The local coordinator admits that “the first meetings were difficult”. “The revenue departments thought that we were snooping into their affairs, that we were pointing out the problems in the structure,” he explains.
A diverse local working group of twenty-five people made up of local administration officials, start-ups, private companies, academics, and youth representatives, all of whom are major users of two-wheeled vehicles, was formed to reflect on the project. It was a mix of profiles and of visions that had reconciled the dynamism of the private sector and the cumbersome nature of the administration.
Yalcouye noted that the solutions proposed by the private sector worked “from a technological point of view” but were “empty” in terms of administrative procedure and public accounting. Concerns were addressed through discussions, and several workable solutions were identified.
“We want to give people the possibility to pay for the licences online without having to queue.” Yalcouye adds that in the event of a missing vignette, the law requires the motorbike to be impounded, however the E-tax project will also give the user “the possibility to pay for his licence online on the spot so that the police can let him go”.
The city is supposed to address the issuing of the licence sticker, with the provision of a serial number and a QR code.
The new system will improve accounts management for the city while taking out the intermediaries who lurk around the counters, offering licences at higher prices than normal.
In 2022, the pilot will start in the central district of the city with an extended local group with different profiles.
Once the platform is developed, trials will be carried out with feedback from the local coordinator. Several measures are considered, such as payment with mobile banking — the pilot phase will help identify and correct computer system errors and security failures, controls with dedicated terminals and the analysis of QR codes by the police.
However, only 20% to 40% of the population have access to the internet, with issues of poor connectivity. To address the internet-related difficulties, USSD was chosen as an alternative with partnerships with local mobile phone operators.
The roll-out of the solution is planned for 2023, but in the meantime, the two systems will coexist. The project includes a transition period with the possibility for users to get their licence online or to come and collect it at the counters, with the bonus of raising awareness on the new options.
New tools were designed with a contribution from local start-ups. “They helped us shape and give content to our solutions,” according to the ASToN local coordinator.
To test the effectiveness of this set of innovations, every solution proposed by a start-up was submitted and validated by other start-ups, a way of qualitatively improving the solution “without being experts,” says Yalcouye.
The close collaboration with technology companies is valuable to the local group, particularly in the next phase of the implementation of the E-tax.
For more information on the 11 ASToN cities, visit www.aston-network.org.
Written by Moussa Ngom.
