The DVLA was sued over attempts to revoke a contract for vehicle number plate embossment
BEMENCO Embossment Limited has issued a writ at the High Court in Accra against the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) over attempts by the DVLA to revoke a valid contract for vehicle number plate embossment between it and the DVLA.
Bemenco is suing on behalf of its members (plaintiffs), numbering 27, who have been providing embossment services to the DVLA for more than 30 years.
It claims that the DVLA awarded a subsisting contract between it, the plaintiffs, and DVLA to one Dr Nyarko Esumadu Appiah of Original Manufacturing and Embossment.
It said that the DVLA is planning to roll out digitalised vehicle number plates in January 2026; however, the plaintiff’s members have not been engaged.
The plaintiffs further stated that the embossment of 2026 number plates should have started in October 2025, with the allocation of blank number plates to the plaintiffs to emboss and submit to the DVLA in December 2025.
However, the plaintiffs stated that the defendant had refused and/or failed to allocate the number plates to them.
This action, the plaintiffs hold, is unfair, unreasonable, and an abuse of administrative authority.
It is the case of the plaintiffs that the action of the defendant, if not restrained by the court, would cause 3,000 of its workers irreparable damage and impose huge financial loss on them.
Bemenco Limited is therefore praying the court to declare that DVLA’s refusal to allocate blank registration plates for the year 2026 to plaintiff’s members is unlawful, unfair, and without legal basis.
They want a declaration that the defendant’s refusal to allocate blank registration plates for the year 2026 to the plaintiffs breaches the subsisting contract between the plaintiffs and the defendant for the embossment of vehicle number plates.
The plaintiffs are also asking the court to declare that the defendant’s decision to award the contract for manufacturing and embossment of number plates on vehicles to Dr Nyarko of Original Embossment (aka Daasebre) is null, void, and of no legal consequence.
Again, Bemenco wants the court to compel the defendant to engage its members to emboss vehicle number plates for the year 2026 and beyond.
The plaintiffs are also seeking costs, including solicitor’s fees, and any other relief(s) deemed fit by the court.
Moreover, it is the plaintiff’s case that over the past 30 years, the defendant had relied on the plaintiff’s members to emboss vehicle number plates. The contract for manufacturing and embossment had always been separately awarded to prevent conflicting actions.
It stated that DVLA’s decision to overlook 46 companies and sole proprietors to award both manufacturing and embossment contracts to one individual is illegal and discriminatory.
Additionally, plaintiffs alleged that DVLA neither advertised for tenders nor obtained permission from the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) to sole-source the manufacture and embossment of vehicle number plates, and that DVLA violated the Procurement Act of Ghana, 2003.
The plaintiffs stated that although it supports DVLA’s intention to roll out digitalised number plates in 2026, suspending the said rollout for about six months would allow adequate planning, training, and further engagement with stakeholders.
