I tried to renew my car licence disc using Natis – but they told me it hasn’t launched

The recent announcement from FNB stating that “the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has launched a new payment gateway” to renew and pay your car licence disc online, as well as get it delivered, was a blessing.

It had come in the same month that my licence disc renewal was due and meant I did not have to spend time standing in a long line in a hot building to renew.

According to the announcement, motorists who want to make use of this service must:

• Log onto the Natis online platform
• Select “View Motor Renewals”
• Choose the licence disc/car
• Capture card details and pay
• Select method of delivery

With a sense of optimism, I registered on Natis, selected “Motor Vehicle Renewals”, entered my personal details, waited on a one-time pin, and reached the vehicle list where all the licences connected to my profile were shown.

Things were going well, and I was excited to see that the RTMC had, thus far, delivered on all its promises.

However, when it came to paying for the renewal, I hit a wall. There were no further steps available to pay and renew the licence disc.

The only options that were shown to me were “Download”, “Email”, or “Sms Notice Number”.

I tested them all, and all three only showed how much I owed for the licence disc renewal – none provided a link to continue to the fabled “online payment gateway”.

I did find one way to pay, though, which was far from the promised “online” option.

When clicking on “Download”, a PDF report showing how much you owe the RTMC pops up with directions to mail a physical cheque to your applicable municipality.

Needless to say, this is not ideal and not nearly the 21st-century online service I was looking for.

Not online

I navigated the RTMC website a while longer to find another possible link to this new feature, but to no avail.

The website requires that you re-enter your personal details and wait for a one-time pin for nearly every link you click, and after waiting on over 10 one-time pins for the various pages, I came to the conclusion that the system is just not there and abandoned the search.

I then contacted the RTMC to get clarity on the situation, but the organisation did not respond to media questions.

I then reached out to FNB, the company that is facilitating the online payment gateway, and it said: “The solution is not online yet, but in the process of going live.”

This follows the RTMC and FNB stating two weeks ago that the online solution “has launched”.