Garaging or Scrapping Your Vehicle?

Gilbert Agius Deputy Chief Officer Land Transport Directorate

One of the most frequently asked questions related to vehicles is “when and why do I need to garage my car, and how do I go about it? And if I decide to scrap my car, what do I need to do, what is the procedure that I should follow?”

There are different scenarios where either of the above is required, however, all processes are quick, simple, and very accessible. Let’s go through them and see to the basics. By term garaging a vehicle, one implies that a vehicle will not be used on the road for an indefinite time – whatever the reason is, for example, it not being needed for a particular period of time or because it is undertaking modifications or repairs. In such cases, the owner should inform Transport Malta that the vehicle will not be in use (and hence not on the road) from that particular date and return the vehicle’s plates. This means that for the time the number plates are returned to Transport Malta, the owner will not have to pay neither the road licence (annual circulation tax) nor the insurance, although with respect to the latter, the owner may still wish to insure the vehicle.

The process is simple: all the owner is required to do is to download and fill in an application form named VEH 67 from the Authority’s website, and present this at either the Paola

or Ħal Lija offices together with the Registration Certificate (logbook), all number plates, as well as road licence (if this is still valid). In the case that the licence has expired, a monthly pro rata charge equivalent to the annual circulation fee will be charged, together with any other pending fees (such as contravention or CVA dues). Another logbook with a ‘vehicle garaged’ note will be issued and a basic administrative fee of €10.00 will apply.

Company-owned or organisationowned vehicles follow this same process, wherein nothing else is requested or required if the application form is signed off by the same contact person that is listed on the vehicle’s logbook. By doing this, the vehicle will be officially garaged for an unstipulated period of time and can be relicenced whenever the owner wishes; all that will be required is to renew the insurance, download and fill in the VEH 06 application from website and call at one of the mentioned offices with the logbook, filled-in form and insurance policy. The plates will be re-issued (at a €70.00 charge) and the pro rate licence shall need to be paid.

If the VRT test is due, this should be done and passed beforehand - another common question in this instance is “but how do I drive my car to do the test without a licence or a plate?” Again, the process I simple; all you are required to do is pay the insurance fee and present the policy at our offices, where you will be given a permit to drive to the VRT station and back. No extra fees will apply for this, but make sure that you book your test beforehand.

Scrapping your vehicle?

When it comes to scrapping a vehicle, the process is quite similar, with just a few extra steps required and to take note of. Let’s start by specifying that by officially scrapping a vehicle, the owner is acknowledging that this will be destroyed and permanently put off, and will never be re-licenced again.

The first step is to take your vehicle to an official destruction facility of your choice, wherein upon scrapping, a destruction certificate will be issued

to the owner. This applies for all private passenger cars (M1) or small goods carrying commercial (N1) vehicles only.

Once the certificate is in hand, the owner then needs to download a form named VEH 13 and come to our offices with this form, the destruction certificate, the logbook, all of the number plates, and the road licence (if this is still valid), to officially finalise the process.

A scrapping receipt will be issued against the same administrative fee of €10.00. Any outstanding fees or fines such as expired licences and contraventions will need to be paid be as well to conclude the process.

In the case of a company-owned or organisation-owned vehicle, scrapping will also require an authorised person to present an official statement stating, in the form of a board resolution and on a letter head signed by either the company secretary or all directors, that the vehicle is being written off permanently.

One also needs to keep in mind that there might be some restrictions which could prevent a vehicle from being scrapped. Such cases might include: the need to prove that a vehicle is not still under hire purchase terms (a cancellation from the dealer will suffice) or has any pending Police and legal matters. Any such pre-existing restrictions can be found noted on the logbook unless these have been imposed after the latter has been issued.

Since the requirement to submit a destruction certificate came into effect on the 13th of November 2013, vehicles that where physically scrapped before this date and thus cannot be backed by this certificate will also need the owner to produce a sworn affidavit stating that vehicle in question was disposed of before this date. An administration fee of €150.00 will apply in this case.

What happens when someone didn’t pay the road licences for several years?

Another frequent question related to garaging and scrapping concerns the possible accumulation of road licence arrears (over time): “what if I didn’t know of these procedures and haven’t garaged or scrapped my vehicle officially? Will I have to pay all these arrears?!”

In such situations and for the benefit

of the public, Transport Malta has a dedicated scheme (called the Licence Arrears Regularization Scheme) which is applicable until the 15th of October 2022 and which applies to genuine cases only – an owner may choose to either garage or scrap such vehicle by documenting the particular case and paying a nominal fee. All information related to this scheme is available on the Authority’s website, and a future, dedicated article will discuss this in further detail.

Whether you are garaging or scrapping a vehicle, it is a straightforward process once you know the requirements beforehand. The transaction takes only a few minutes – all procedures, together with the required forms, are accessible from Transport Malta’s website; www.transport.gov.mt, and any related queries may be communicated via a phone call or email to the Authority’s channels, so know where to check, know what to do, and if in doubt or need, just get in touch!

A final Note

To reach the general public better, it is to be noted that on the 4th of November 2019, Transport Malta inaugurated a new office offering services in relation to the Driver and Vehicles Licensing Unit. This new office operating from Transport Malta’s Head Office located in Ħal Lija offers clients from the North and Central parts of the island an alternative to having to travel to Paola. Although currently not all services are being offered from the Ħal Lija office, a deposit service was launched through which clients can deposit and collect documents and plates from Ħal Lija.

The list of services offered at Paola and Ħal Lija are as follows:

• Registration of Vehicles; • Change of Ownerships requiring Plates, change of

Engine/Body types/Colour; • Re-Issue of Vehicle Registration

Certificates and/or Vehicle

Licence Discs; • Scrapping and Garaging; • Payment of Licences in Arrears and Licence revocations; • Licence/Category Renewals and Driving Licence alterations; • Driver’s Tags; • Exchange of driving licences,

International Driving Permits; and • Tachographs.