Lai See | Two-month wait for vehicle roadworthiness certificate

Getting a car through its roadworthiness certificate in Hong Kong is not what it used to be. Some years ago, you could just turn up at a designated vehicle testing centre and the examination would be over in 10 minutes. Now the average waiting period is two months. How can this be in "Asia's world city"?

In 2011, the Independent Commission Against Corruption became aware that all was not as it should be. It mounted an operation and arrested more than 30 people that year, and about the same number again over the past few years, on charges of conspiring to forge the certificates.

The graftbuster also suggested testing centres tighten their procedures. Sometimes it stayed on the premises to ensure its suggestions were implemented and thus stop employees from fabricating results. The waiting period has gradually increased as a result. Shortly after the arrests, the waiting time jumped to two weeks and has increased steadily since. Twelve months ago, it was about six weeks. Of course, the number of cars requiring testing has also risen.

But the system now has built-in inefficiencies. To circumvent the waiting period, garages would book a number of slots regardless of whether they have a firm booking. But then testing centres were instructed to only accept the vehicle for which the slot had been booked. So people would book their cars in at multiple centres and take the first appointment that came up. So a centre might have bookings for 30 cars, but none turn up because earlier spots have been found elsewhere.

The situation is a nightmare for the testing centres and garage owners, who find it impossible to arrange their order books with certainty.

Driving a vehicle without insurance can result in the loss of your driving licence for a year. Strangely, driving without the certificate is an offence that results in a fine if apprehended even though it also invalidates the insurance. One solution for this is that the Transport Department, instead of waiting until a licence has expired before sending out its usual reminder, should send the letter two months earlier.