With all the recent hullabaloo about the ZINARA (Zimbabwe National Roads Authority) deadline for motorists to upgrade to the new license disc system we decided to have a look at what the fuss was all about (the initial deadline was for 31 May and then extended to 30 June 2012). The new ZINARA license discs feature a Quick Response Code (QR Code) and have been available since the beginning of May 2012.
According to Mr. G Chamwaura a Transport Officer at ZINARA the QR code feature has been introduced as a security measure because nefarious characters where duplicating the current discs. Indeed a whole cottage industry has mushroomed on the streets of Harare and other urban centres in Zimbabwe where counterfeit license discs can be obtained.
Chimwaura was insistent that even the most cunning of counterfeiters could not pull off a convincing hoax as each QR Code was uniquely generated and contained within it a host of information about each vehicle including: the teller who processed the license, place of registration, vehicle chassis number, license plates etc. the system is expected to streamline the storage of vehicle records as ZINARA officials will no longer need to go to the Central Vehicle Registry to access vehicle registration documentation.
At the moment the system has yet to be rolled out nationwide and is still largely in Harare. During this first phase most of the work centres around data capture and evaluating the process around applications for vehicle licensing.
Another reason ZINARA is introducing the system is to verify the number of vehicles in the country. ZINARA estimates that the country currently has 800,000 vehicles but this is not verifiable. The new system will allow them to have a more accurate picture.
The introduction of the system is of no additional cost to the motorist and Chamwaura indicated that his organisation has now increased the term options that are available and they are 4,6,8,10 and 12 months.
The key question relates to whether there are sufficient scanners on the roads to ensure that the system works as intended. Currently this is not the case, however ZINARA says they are bringing in sufficient quantities of scanners and these will be available to the police and at all toll gates. The lack of scanners on the ground however is a flaw in the implementation as this provides a loophole in terms of compliance. Enforcement is mainly being done by the police and without scanners it’s impossible, at least for the time being to know whether a QR coded disc is genuine or not. A motorist may present a disc that has a copy of the QR code and ‘benefit’ from the cops’ inability to verify it’s authenticity.
According to the Herald reports ZINARA’s Motorists will not be charged any late any administrative penalty for late licensing before June 30, but those who fail to license their vehicles b y then will pay an all inclusive penalty of $45 in addition to US$20 charged for acquiring the new disc.
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“Chimwaura was insistent that even the most cunning of counterfeiters
could not pull off a convincing hoax as each QR Code was uniquely
generated and contained within it a host of information about each
vehicle including: the teller who processed the license, place of
registration, vehicle chassis number, license plates etc. the system is
expected to streamline the storage of vehicle records as ZINARA
officials will no longer need to go to the Central Vehicle Registry to
access vehicle registration documentation.”
QR codes can be generated online, once you know what format the data in the QR code is you can replicate it. In my opinion it is not a 100% foolproof and if this is what is going to be the end of the line as far as retrieving information about a vehicle then they’re in for a rude awakening, I’m waiting for the Headlines “Vehicle Thefts Increase as Would Be Thieves Outsmart CVR” Concept brilliant but not a total solution you still need double and triple checks in place, especially in Zimbabwe where people become resourceful very quickly.
You may need to advise ZINARA!!
I’m sure I’m no where near qualified to do this and may be wrong…
lol, i like your sense of humour Ray. your qr made me laugh. My friend in Zim tried one of the qr codes and they are recognized by the normal smartphone scanner. from the pictures i have seen, they look significantly bigger also. so i think they are a different version of QR codes than the ones we used to?
http://www.qurify.com lol!
Something like this https://plus.google.com/112798230107552443654/posts/176pMf1c422
Ray is right, even with a simple smartphone app you can scan the QR Code and it will bring out the data then after a few exercises of training it, you can generate yo own with the data that you want. Problem is people hear or read about these things in other countries but dnt have full understanding, then rush here and think they have come with a brilliant idea. As long as they dnt hv scanners linked to smwhr the system is certain to be highjacked!!!
Well for all you know
– they did think about the security
– they did encypt the data on the QR image and on their Database (hope they have one)
– the system is secure
Otherwise they need to hola at me.
I’m not sure I’m following you @6734d916f301d5bd5f3baf466649652c:disqus as the whole point of QR codes is to hold information in the QR Code. As far as I know it is not linked to a Database and run independently of one.
Or I have the whole wrong idea of what a QR Code is???
Using my Android device i can read that QR code. it is also possible to generate a QR code from my device. secure i think not.
this is a step in the right direction by zinara towards e-government
ZINARA created a problem by forcing us to renew our licences every 4 months (cost is $65). Now they are busy trying to fix the problem by introducing more problems! Shame on them. Zim is not the only country in the world with cars and they could have copied working solutions and systems from their neighbours Botswana or SA or Zambia! Simple.
“Design Patterns”
either Mr. G Chamwaura vaka vharwa or vanonyepa, statement iri ndere nhema: “… QR code feature has been introduced as a security measure…”
[…] is worth that mentioning that licence disks have had QR Codes since around 2012… Why we haven’t seen a further development to this since then is anyone’s […]
[…] is worth that mentioning that licence disks have had QR Codes since around 2012… Why we haven’t seen a further development to this since then is anyone’s […]