Dubai: If you are caught driving a vehicle whose records have been removed from the Roads and Transport Authority's (RTA) system, you will face serious legal consequences, a senior official warned on Monday.
The RTA announced that it will start writing-off vehicles whose registrations have expired two or more years ago, effective by the end of October.
Ahmad Behroozian, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Licensing Agency at the RTA, told Gulf News on Monday that writing off a vehicle means the car's records will be wiped off the RTA's system, which will then make it an "officially non-existent car".
He said in the event of the records being wiped out, a motorist driving that car will face serious legal consequences, including fines and confiscation.
He explained that drivers currently face a fine and confiscation of the vehicle if they drive a car with expired registration, but if the records of a car are wiped out by the RTA, the driver will be subject to a bigger punishment.
"Failure to have a vehicle, which is constantly being used, fully checked-up for two years or more makes it an unsafe means of mobility and, accordingly, poses a danger to the driver, passengers and goods on board, besides constituting a serious hazard to other road users in the emirate," said Behroozian in a statement released by the RTA.
He said by taking this action, the RTA is targeting a large proportion of motorists who do not bother to renew their vehicle registration, despite it having expired a long time ago.
Being lenient
"The law allows us to write-off a vehicle's records after one year if the registration is not renewed. However, we are being lenient and asking drivers whose vehicle registrations expired two or more years ago, and giving them until the end of October to renew the registration before we start writing them off," he said. Behroozian said if the RTA writes off a vehicle and then a driver wants to retain it, he will have to clear his file and then register the car as a new one instead of renewing the registration.
"It is a big recklessness on the part of the drivers not to renew their car registration for two or more years. We want them to come and renew the registrations before the end of October after they clear their traffic fines," he said.
Gulf News earlier reported that the number of vehicles with expired registration increased by at least 20 per cent this year. There are now more than 100,000 vehicles with expired registrations compared to 80,000 last year in Dubai. There is a total of 1.1 million registered vehicles in Dubai.
