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”.
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