The Ministry of Infrastructure wants to adjust the fees for technical inspections of vehicles every year, and the longer the mandatory inspection is delayed, the higher the fee will be, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Stanisław Bukowiec informed the Sejm on Wednesday. The regulations are scheduled to come into force later this year.
– We want to systemically change the issue related to the rates of fees for carrying out technical inspections, namely to link the rate with an objective indicator independent of the technical inspection system, so as to ensure cyclical indexation of these fees – said Deputy Minister Stanisław Bukowiec during a meeting of the Parliamentary Infrastructure Committee.
He added that there are plans to link this rate with average salary calculated on the basis of the fourth quarter in a given year and this rate would simply be indexed annually by this indicator.
Planned scope of changes
He explained that the Ministry of Infrastructure is preparing a draft of statutory changes that will cover not only the issues of rates for technical inspections, but will also implement EU regulations that oblige Poland to regulate issues related to inspections regarding the scope of technical inspections.
Bukowiec admitted that the rates for technical inspections of vehicles have not been increased for over 20 years, and the new rates are to take into account the costs of running the business of diagnostic stations.
The deputy minister also informed that the draft amendment to the regulations also assumes that a diagnostician will prepare photographic documentation, and this data would be sent to the Central Vehicle Register.
Higher rate for latecomers
Additionally, a solution is to be proposed that would increase the inspection fee for those who would be late with the inspection. A delay of one week would increase the rate by 100 percent, after three weeks the rate would increase by 200 percent, and after 90 days of delay the rate would be higher than the standard rate by 300 percent.
At the same time, the ministry wants to propose the possibility of carrying out the inspection 30 days earlier. In such a situation, the validity of the inspection would be extended by one month.
Bukowiec announced that the ministry's plan assumes that new regulations on technical inspections of vehicles will enter into force this year.
Currently, the costs of performing a technical inspection are: PLN 98 – passenger car, PLN 162 – gas-powered vehicles, PLN 62 – motorcycle, PLN 153 – truck.
The industry's appeal for an increase in rates
At the end of January last year, organizations from the automotive industry sent an appeal to Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Paweł Gancarz regarding the indexation of fees for technical inspections of vehicles. The industry indicates that the fees for technical inspections of vehicles have not changed for almost two decades.
The appeal was signed by representatives of: the Polish Chamber of Vehicle Inspection Stations, DEKRA Polska, the Automotive Technology Association, the Polish Motor Association, the Association of Car Dealers, the National Association of Road Transport Employers, the National Association of Employers of Vehicle Inspection Stations and the Association of Distributors and Manufacturers of Automotive Parts.
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