Background

In 2003, the Ministry of Economic Development made a proposal, as part of the administrative reform, to transfer the right to technical inspection (TO) of cars from the traffic police to commercial organizations. However, due to the resistance of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it was not possible to implement the initiative within the planned time frame (since October 2004). In January 2006, the government adopted a decree providing for the issuance of maintenance coupons for new cars for three years at once and inspection every two years for cars under seven years old. Previously, cars under five years old were inspected once every two years, older cars - annually.

At the beginning of 2009, the government commission for ensuring road safety, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, proposed transferring the functions of technical inspection from the traffic police to “authorized organizations.” The measure was not implemented.

In April 2011, President Dmitry Medvedev said that the existing technical inspection system had “completely outlived its usefulness.” He proposed either completely abolishing the maintenance (which was contrary to the international obligations of the Russian Federation) or “making it problem-free for citizens.” The statement was preceded by numerous publications in the media about huge queues at service points and facts of corruption when obtaining coupons. In May 2011, the government decided to extend the existing maintenance coupons for passenger cars with a permissible weight of up to 3.5 tons and motorcycles for a year. During this transition period, it was planned to reform the system. In addition, owners of cars no more than a year old were allowed to receive a ticket when registering with the traffic police without instrumental control.

On July 1, 2011, President Dmitry Medvedev signed the law “On Mandatory Technical Inspection of Cars,” which, from January 1, 2012, transferred the functions of technical inspection from the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate to the Russian Union of Auto Insurers. The traffic police lost the right to check the presence of a maintenance coupon, and the coupon itself became necessary only for obtaining an MTPL policy. Also, cars under three years old were exempted from instrumental control. In December 2011, the government adopted new rules for passing MOT. According to the resolution, the list of inspected components and requirements for the car was reduced from approximately 1 thousand to 67 items, and the standard procedure time was reduced from 41 minutes to half an hour.

How the technical inspection was reformed