Obligatory vehicle insurance and renewal of car fleet
The Romanian Chamber of Deputies has passed the draft law on the compulsory motor-vehicle civil liability insurance for car owners (RCA).
Mihai Pelin, 18.05.2017, 14:07
The owners of cars older than 8 years who want to buy a new car in Romania, through the scrappage program “Rabla” can register with the certified producers and importers. This year, the government has allotted for this purpose a budget of more than 300 million lei (about 66 million Euros), the amount of the scrappage premium remaining 6,500 lei, that is 1,430 Euros. Important incentives have been given for the purchase of electric and hybrid cars through the “Plus” program.
“Rabla Clasic” targets those people interested in buying new cars with internal combustion engines and it has been allotted a budget of 180 million lei, that is 39.5 million Euros. A simple calculation shows that, if car owners exclusively use the scrappage premium, the funds allotted would suffice for 28 thousand scrappage vouchers, to which another two discounts or premiums can be added.
The first discount amounts to 1,000 lei (220 Euros) if the engine has polluting emissions of 98 grams of CO2 per km at the most, while the second incentive worth 1,700 lei (373 Euros) is granted in the case of hybrid cars. A novelty for this year is the subsidy granted for buying electric or hybrid cars. Thus, the “Rabla Plus” program provides eco-bonuses worth 10,000 Euros for the purchase of 100% electric cars, and bonuses of 4,400 Euros for the purchase of hybrid cars of the plug-in type.
In order to benefit from the scrappage premium, car owners need to have their domicile or residence in Romania, should not be behind with their payments to the local budget, should cancel the registration of the old car and obtain the scrappage certificate from the authorized collectors. The old car should be registered in Romania and should still have the engine, the transmission system, the wheels and the body. With the start of the Rabla car scrappage program, the issue of motor-vehicle civil liability insurance for car owners has also been clarified.
The Financial Surveillance Authority will set a reference price for the obligatory civil liability insurance for vehicle owners, which all insurance companies will take as a reference point when issuing a price for beneficiaries. The provision is included in the bill passed by the Chamber of Deputies, which is a decision-making body. Therefore, vehicle owners will receive damages irrespective of the automobile repair shop they choose, and they will also benefit from direct disbursement between insurance companies.
In order to eliminate risks in terms of car repair, the MPs decided that the use of fake car parts should be a crime punishable by 3 up to 7 years in prison. The law maintains the obligation of car owners to buy a motor-vehicle civil liability insurance policy before obtaining registration numbers for their cars. The insurance policy can be suspended if the vehicle is kept outside the public space.
