Vehicle registration, transfer, roadworthiness test and insurance

The registration card

The registration card is issued by the Ministry of Transport. Since 17 August 2020 it has been a credit-card-sized PVC card with visible and invisible security features allowing real-time mobile authentication. The minister then told holders of the old handwritten four-digit cards to convert them by 31 December 2020; other cards stayed valid until they expired. Since December 2024, applications go through the ssdtmint.cm platform, like driving licences, and its registration module is run by the company High Tech Telesoft.

For a first registration after import, a guide published in 2026 lists the customs declaration and clearance receipt, the purchase invoice, the certificate of conformity, a certified copy of the owner's ID card, their taxpayer number (NIU), the roadworthiness report and the insurance certificate. The same guide gives a processing time of 7 to 21 working days depending on the region; MINT, for its part, promises to produce documents within seven days since digitisation.

Buying a used car: the transfer

Every sale of a used vehicle, whether imported or bought locally, triggers transfer duties. Since 1 June 2017 the declaration has been made online on the tax authority's portal (impots.cm): the buyer enters the vehicle details (chassis number, age, price) or uploads the bill of sale, the system calculates the duties, and payment is made by bank transfer or deposit into the tax collector's account, who issues a receipt. To curb under-declared prices, the software includes a reference price list.

• Old registration card crossed out by the seller
• Legalised or notarised bill of sale
• Certified copies of the buyer's and seller's ID cards
• Certificate showing no outstanding lien
• Seller's tax clearance and buyer's taxpayer number
• Valid roadworthiness report

This list of documents comes from a practical guide published in 2026 (Infos Pratiques Cameroun) and has not been confirmed by a MINT publication.

Importing a vehicle: the tax on older cars

Cameroon does not ban imports of older vehicles: it taxes them more heavily. Under the 2017 finance law, passenger cars over ten years old were subject to a 12.5% excise duty, while those ten years old or less were exempt; for commercial vehicles the threshold was fifteen years. The 2026 finance law tightens the age-based scale. EcoMatin notes that the fleet numbers between 1.6 and 2 million vehicles, with an average age of 18, and that more than 92% of imported cars are over 15 years old on arrival.

MINT's TRANSTAT 2025 yearbook shows the scale of the issue: of 90,841 vehicles newly registered in 2024 (motorcycles excluded), 20,934 were over 20 years old, against 22,534 aged 1 to 5. Customs clearance itself (customs duties, VAT, declaration) is handled by the Directorate General of Customs; the registration stamp duty on an imported vehicle is collected together with the customs duties.

Roadworthiness test

Roadworthiness tests take place at MINT-approved test centres. According to the TRANSTAT 2025 yearbook, 69 centres have been upgraded and networked, and 502,272 roadworthiness certificates were granted in 2024, with 20,195 refusals. The Littoral and Centre regions alone account for more than 350,000 certificates. No official price could be found online; a 2026 guide puts it at 15,000 to 25,000 CFA francs.

Insurance and vehicle stamp duty

Third-party (civil liability) insurance is compulsory for every vehicle on public roads, the French foreign ministry points out; it stems from the CIMA Insurance Code shared by the countries of the zone. Comprehensive cover is optional. Since 1 January 2017, the vehicle stamp duty, formerly the tax disc, has been collected by insurance companies when third-party insurance is taken out or renewed, in a single payment for the year.

The General Tax Code allows a vehicle to be impounded if the driver cannot show, among other things, a valid vehicle stamp or transport licence; the vehicle is released once all sums due are paid in full. Diplomatic vehicles, vehicles in transit and armed forces vehicles are exempt from the stamp duty.

Number plates

The General Tax Code mentions special series, such as 'WG' and 'WT' plates (vehicles in transit) and armed forces plates. No official source we consulted describes the format of ordinary plates, their price or how they are made: check these points with the Transport delegation.

Frequently asked questions