Vehicle registration to be cancelled even if fees are unpaid

The government has amended regulations to allow the cancellation of registrations for old vehicles marked for destruction even if outstanding fees and penalties have not been paid.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Ministry of Transport said registrations for vehicles to be scrapped will be cancelled from 1 January, regardless of unpaid annual fees or fines.

The change, the ministry said, is intended to ease difficulties faced by the public in cancelling registrations and disposing of vehicles at the end of their life.

The ministry stressed that while registrations will be cancelled, any fees and penalties accrued up to the date of cancellation will remain payable and will continue to be recorded as debts owed to the state.

The move comes as police remove large numbers of abandoned vehicles from roads in Male'.

Police have previously said many vehicles seized from roads in Male' and Hulhumale' are registered in other zones.