Vehicle inspections for owners' good: Police
Vehicle inspections for owners' good: Police
JAKARTA (JP): A proposed requirement that police physically
inspect vehicles before issuing renewals of registration
documents has sparked a new controversy.
Police deputy chief of operational affairs Maj. Gen. M.B.
Hutagalung defended the police initiative yesterday, saying the
scheme would be "for the good of the (vehicles') owners".
"It is to avoid falsification of serial numbers on engines and
chassis, especially where there has been a change of ownership,"
Hutagalung said, as quoted by the Antara news agency.
"Without regular inspections, it is difficult for the police
to monitor the identity of a vehicle. So (vehicle inspections)
are a precautionary measure taken for the vehicle owners' good,"
he said.
The new policy is contained in a decree issued by the National
Police chief.
The plan came under fire in the House of Representatives last
week during a hearing between legislators and Minister of
Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto.
Under the existing procedures, vehicle owners who want to
renew their vehicles' registration are required to produce only
the current documents and identity cards.
People are required to bring along their vehicles for physical
check only if they intend to transfer ownership in the vehicle or
if they are reporting the loss of their registration documents.
Legislators said that the police chief's decree was in
violation of a 1992 traffic law and a 1993 lower government
regulation on traffic.
They expressed concern that the new procedure would meet with
opposition from the public because it would lengthen bureaucratic
procedures, which are already notoriously arduous.
Separately, Director for Traffic Brig. Gen. Sumarsono
concurred with Hutagalung that the new policy was aimed at
minimizing forgery of vehicle registration documents.
He said that, without physical checks, there were numerous
opportunities for people to replace the engines and chassis of
their vehicles with other and better models, thereby evading
higher taxes to which they would otherwise be liable.
"It is possible that dishonest people re-register their
vehicles every year but that they have, in fact, illegally
replaced the vital components," he said. "If that happens, who
should be blamed?"
The police, who manage payment of vehicle taxes along with the
local administration, have been ducking for cover as legislators
and the public alike attack them for failing to simplify the
procedures involved in vehicle registration.
For example, the police have insisted on retaining their
policy of requiring vehicles to be re-registered every year,
whereas the House of Representatives has repeatedly called for
re-registration to be carried out once every five years. (pan)