Harare — POLICE have, with immediate effect, increased charges for obtaining firearms and clearance certificates.

Police spokesperson Superintendent Andrew Phiri yesterday said the increases were with effect from today.

The cost of issuing a firearms certificate has been raised from $50 million to $50 billion while an import permit now costs $250 billion, up from $250 million.

Renewing a firearm certificate now costs $25 billion, up from $25 million, while replacing a certificate is now $30 billion, up from $25 million.

A temporary firearms permit now costs $50 billion while a firearms transit permit and an auctioneer's permit now cost $100 billion and a firearms dealer's licence has gone up from $500 million to $500 billion.

The charges for renewing a dealer's licence and a new dealer's import permit, which were $250 million, are now $250 billion.

Charges of a re-loader's permit and ammunition supply permit are now $500 billion and $75 billion respectively, up from $500 and $250 million.

A firearms certificate after import now costs $50 billion, up from $50 million, while a permanent export permit is now $500 billion.

Other services, including notification of change of address, firearms licence verification authority order and firearms collector's licence, have been increased from between $25 million and $250 million to between $30 billion and $500 billion.