Criteria and terms of mandatory car inspection
By Tea Mariamidze
Friday, October 6
The mandatory technical inspection of cars in Georgia will take effect from January 1 2018, and will cost around 60 Gel.
The cars will also have to comply with the following seven main criteria: quality of brakes, steering wheel, suspension, visibility and lights, exhaust and tires.
The information was released by Mikheil Khmaladze, Director of the Land Transport Agency of the Ministry of Economics and Sustainable Development.
“These seven criteria need to be met by all vehicles, and those who will not comply with them, will not have a permission to drive,” he stated.
Khmaladze explained that testing of all cars will take nearly two years.
“The primary inspection will last for two years, but after this we will introduce European standards which mean that cars which are 4 years old or less will not have to undergo the inspection. Cars that are 4-6 years old will undergo testing once every two years and cars older than six years will have to be tested every year,” he stated.
Khmaladze said that at this stage there are 26 testing centers throughout Georgia, which have 35 lines. One car is able to be tested per line.
As for the technical inspection cost, Khmaladze said the upper limit will be 60 GEL, in order to avoid the artificial increase of prices.
He added that drivers who refuse to undergo testing will be fined.
“If the car fails to comply with the technical inspection, the driver will be given one month to repair the car,” he added.
Khmaladze also said that at the first stage cars with large volume engines will be tested.
“The exact terms and schedule of vehicle testing will be published in the end of the month, however, we have already agreed to test high volume engine cars, that consume more fuel and affect the environment more,” he stated.
In November last year, then-Minister of Economy Dimitri Kumsishvili announced that the Government was interested in introducing mandatory vehicle inspections and was inviting interested companies to show an official Expression of Interest.
Currently, a Swiss company, SGS, is working on the issue.
Within the Georgia-EU Association Agreement signed in 2014, Georgia is obligated to ensure all vehicles are compliant with EU standards.
