DOC // Published in Moldova's Official Journal: registration of vehicles with dangerous defects or expired technical inspection to be automatically suspended

The registration of vehicles with dangerous defects or with an expired technical inspection will be automatically suspended. The promulgation decree and the law that establishes a mechanism to this effect today were published in the Official Journal (Monitorul Oficial).

The document was drafted by the Public Services Agency (ASP) and the Interior (MAI). It introduces into national legislation the mechanism for suspending the registration of vehicles that no longer meet the technical conditions required for movement on public roads.

The suspension of registration will be applied automatically, by entering a note in the State Vehicle Register, in the following situations: upon expiry of the validity of the periodic technical inspection, upon detection of dangerous technical defects during the periodic technical inspection, or upon detection of dangerous technical defects in traffic.

In the case of expiry of the validity of the periodic technical inspection, the suspension will be applied immediately. In the other cases, it will become active after 30 calendar days – a grace period granted to drivers to remedy the deficiencies and pass the technical inspection again.

Also, during the first 30 days from the application of the suspension – both in the case of expired technical inspection and in the case of detected dangerous defects at inspection – vehicles may be driven, by way of exception, only to service workshops, for the repair of defects or for undergoing the periodic technical inspection, including any repeated inspection.

The suspension of registration will be automatically cancelled after the issuance of the technical inspection certificate confirming that the vehicle can be readmitted to traffic.

According to the new provisions, the manager of the technical inspection station will be obliged to notify the holder of the registration certificate at least 10 days before the expiry of the validity of the vehicle’s periodic technical inspection. The information on the expiry date will be taken from the "Autotest" Information System. The specific notification mechanism will be established by a government decision.

People who use vehicles whose registration has been suspended risk fines and even the confiscation of the registration plates.

According to the authors, the project will contribute to enhancing road safety and preventing accidents caused by the inadequate technical condition of vehicles.

This law enters into force one month after the date of its publication in the Official Journal of Moldova.