Rishard Khan
rishard.khan@guardian.co.tt
Despite licensing officers being out in full force conducting road checks, no motorists have been ticketed for out-of-date inspection stickers and certificates.
“My information is no vehicles have been charged for not having inspection…the officers (Licensing) have to work so when they were checking and they…charging for other violations. Meaning, some people didn’t have lights, wipers, they had smooth tires—that sort of thing,” Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan told Guardian Media in a telephone interview.
He said that for the most part, the public has been complying with their obligation to have their vehicles’ inspection up-to-date and officers on the roads have been using their discretion; allowing motorists a “bligh” with the understanding they were going to get it done.
The minister, however, admitted that drivers may be taking alternate routes to avoid checkpoints. “Some people will do that because they know their vehicles cannot pass inspection and those are the ones the officers are looking for,” he said.
Motorists have been given several warnings from Sinanan to get their vehicle inspections done or face a steep $5,000 fine that was enforced January 1.
There have been many speculations, however, as to the motive behind this clamp down on vehicle inspection violations as some say the Government stands to make more than $90 million from the inspection fees.
Sinanan has disputed these claims as he said, “a part of it (the fees) would go to the garages and part would go to the Government for things like the stickers or so on. Government does not make money on it. Inspection on vehicles is not a revenue earner”.
Sinanan was adamant that vehicle inspections were done solely to ensure citizens’ safety while on the nation’s roads.
The minister was unable to provide a breakdown as to how the fees are divided between the Government and the garages that perform the inspections. However, Transport Commissioner Basdeo Gosine explained the process further. He said, “An inspection book has 50 pages so that’s 50 certificates. Plus we give you a checklist with 50 pages. So the private garages would pay $3,750 for this package. Out of the $300, they would have to pay VAT on the inspections, and the rest is theirs.”
This means that every time a motorist pays $300 for an inspection, the Government gets $75 while the rest goes to the garages.
President of the T&T Auto Dealers’ Association Visham Babwah estimates there are 700,000 vehicles in the country over five years old which are due for inspection. This means that at $300 for each inspection, the total revenue to be earned would be $210 million. Government would draw in at least $52.5 million TT just from the sale of the inspection packages to garages, VAT exclusive. Garages will receive $157.5 million TT.