Days numbered for R69 car licence disc renewals in South Africa

First National Bank’s (FNB) R69 car licence disc renewal promotion is coming to an end this March after almost a year of being available.

Launched in March 2024, the service was initially only supposed to be on offer for four months to promote FNB’s disc renewal service, however, the deadline was extended not just once or twice, but three times.

Provided there are no further extensions, FNB customers can only enjoy the discounted rate until the end of March 2025 until it reverts back to its original R99 cost.

Added on top of the R69 base price is a Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) charge of R72 which is included in all licence disc renewals, as well as the licensing fee itself which depends on the weight of your vehicle and the province in which it is registered.

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FNB’s affordable rate makes it the cheapest licence renewal services in the country, beating out government’s own online National Traffic Information System (eNatis) which asks R99 from its users, not including the RTMC charge.

Other options include the Capitec mobile app and Renewonline.

The prices and availability of these providers are as follows:

There used to be a slew of disc renewal services in South Africa in recent years, many of whom closed their doors not long after opening them.

In early 2024, drivers could choose between the Post Office, Shoprite Money Market, Pick n Pay, and PayCity for their renewal needs, in addition to the four already listed above.

Pick n Pay was one of the first dominos to fall. Launched in early 2022, it stopped processing renewals less than two years later in March 2024.

The reason for its demise was never made public, though it was the highest priced option among the services available over that period with an initial cost of R445, which was later dropped to R330.

In the beginning it also required that customers visit a Pick n Pay store to perform their renewals as the platform did not support online payments.

Versus its competitors, this made Pick n Pay’s service somewhat unattractive, and could have been key reasons for its shuttering.

The South African Post Office, meanwhile, closed down its renewal portal in November 2024, telling MyBroadband that it was only a proof of concept and was never fully implemented.

However, it’s also possible that the notoriously bankrupt Post Office cut the car licence service from its range of offerings to reduce operational costs.

PayCity, one of the more affordable services available in South Africa, notified customers that it would be ending the service at the end of June 2024.

It thanked users for their support, but never revealed why it made the decision.

Likewise, Shoprite confirmed in September 2024 that it was no longer doing renewals without elaborating any further.