Cheapest way to renew your car licence disc in South Africa – Post Office vs Pick n Pay v FNB and more

BusinessTech has looked at eight ways South Africans can renew their vehicle licence discs, and the online service offered by PayCity is the cheapest – but this depends on where you live and what’s most convenient.

Gone are the days of having only two options when renewing your vehicle licence disc. This often involved standing in long queues at a licencing centre or Post Office, taking more than a couple of hours out of your day to complete.

However, in 2023, there are now several avenues that South Africans can take to renew their discs – including dedicated online licencing services, banks, retailers, and the long-standing post office.

At the start of September, The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) said that its systems show 1,049,412 licences are set to expire in September and warned that penalties will be incurred if they are not renewed on time.

The RTMC said that several extensions granted during the Covid-19 pandemic have resulted in a significant build-up of pending licence renewals, which now fall between August and December.

“As a result, (over a million) motor vehicle licences are expiring (in September) and must be renewed by the end of the month,” it said.

The RTMC said it is taking proactive steps to get motorists to renew on time and is sending out email and SMS reminders to owners whose motor vehicle licences are expiring every month.

In South Africa, motorists are given a 21-day grace period to renew an expired motor vehicle licence.

The grace period is calculated from the expiry date of the current licence disc, and a late renewal penalty applies after this time. The penalty fee is calculated at 10% of the annual licencing fee every month the licence remains lapsed.

So, for example, if your annual licencing fee is R384 (as it is in Gauteng for a vehicle exceeding 750kg but not exceeding 1,000kg), the penalty for not renewing your licence would be R38.40 per month.

Cheapest options

When it comes to pricing, PayCity is the cheapest option at R113.85. However, it only offers its services to those who live in Gauteng, the City of Cape Town, Free State, Northern Cape, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, and North West.

This price is also for delivery to a main city centre, so outlying areas may result in a more expensive delivery fee.

PayCity also noted that while it tries to calculate the fees as accurately as possible, they might change when the licence is processed, according to the information you’ve provided.

The cheapest option offered to all South Africans across the country is the post office at R147, including delivery.

Similarly, the National Traffic Information System (Natis)’s online booking service offers the same service fee as the post office but charges more for delivery (R99), bringing the cost to R171.

The only bank currently offering a renewal service in South Africa is First National Bank (FNB), charging customers a total of R171 to renew their licence discs.

Regarding retailers, Spar and Pick n Pay offer the service to their customers. However, Spar is the only service provider that doesn’t allow motorists to apply online.

Instead, customers must visit a supported Spar store to submit a renewal. The grocery retailer charges R199, and customers must pick up their new disc from the same branch when ready.

Alternatively, you can apply for a renewal online with Pick n Pay, but the retailer is the most expensive option out of all.

Pick n Pay charges an R250 service fee and R79.99 for delivery, adding up to R329.99 in total. While this is more than the rest of the service providers, this price had reduced substantially compared to when the retailer launched the service – costing R444.99.

Additionally, it must be noted that the total cost of vehicle licence discs in this article does not include the actual licence disc price, which varies by vehicle model.

The prices to renew a vehicle licence with the service providers discussed above are summarised in the table below, as outlined by MyBroadband.

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