From March 2021, the rules for passing vehicle inspections will change

The law is not new and it comes into force on March 1, 2021. Moreover, we are talking about more than one regulatory legal act that was developed in accordance with the requirements of the most important of them:

• Federal Law On Technical Inspection No. 170 is the main regulatory document that has been regulating the rules of technical inspection for more than 10 years,
• a new law amending the above legal act - Federal Law No. 122,
• separate rules for buses - PPRF No. 741,
• Order of the Ministry of Transport No. 97 with requirements for inspection photos.

Some sources publish news that the new rules for passing a technical inspection are already in effect, and drivers are fined for not having a diagnostic card, but this is not true. Because another law - No. 98-FZ in connection with the coronavirus infection, the entry into force was postponed from August 2020 to March 2021.

New terms of technical inspection

And let's start with the changes that have already entered into force on April 1, 2020. In particular, the mandatory terms of technical inspection for motorists in Russia have been adjusted.

• for cars aged 4 to 10 years - every 2 years;
• also every 2 years you need to undergo maintenance for the following categories of vehicles of the same age:

– trucks up to 3.5 tons,
- trailers and semi-trailers (including light trailers and compound trucks),
— motorcycles;

• for all the above cars and motorcycles older than 10 years, the new inspection period is already 1 year;
• also once a year you will have to undergo a technical inspection of the following vehicles up to 5 years old:

- passenger taxi,
- buses,
– trucks with more than 8 seats,
– trucks over 3.5 tons,
- cars with special signals,
— cars for driving lessons;

• if the vehicles indicated in the previous paragraph are older than 5 years, then the inspection period is shortened to six months;
• it is also necessary to conduct an inspection every six months for vehicles carrying dangerous goods.

How to correctly calculate the terms under the new law: the year of issue is included in the period of MOT. For example, if your car was manufactured in 2017, then this year is included in the term - that is, your car will be 4 years old in 2021 - from this year you are required to undergo an inspection. In addition, the release date is considered not the date of purchase of the car, but from the year indicated in the documents for the car: PTS or STS.

For new cars

Since the changes in the rules do not say anything about new cars at all, and the age is mentioned only from 4 years old, then, accordingly, new cars do not need to undergo a technical inspection until they reach 4 years old.

How to pass under the new rules from March 2021?

So, avoiding a check-in at the technical inspection station after the introduction of amendments, if possible, is much more difficult.

The fact is that now it becomes mandatory to photograph the procedure with the obligatory storage of photographic materials in the database. Along with this, the responsibility for failing to pass the technical inspection is being tightened not only for drivers (more on the new fine below), but also for station operators - up to a criminal one.

So, photos should contain the following data:

• the car before the start of the technical inspection according to the new rules,
• immediately after the diagnosis
• visible license plate, color, make and model of the car.

In addition, Government Decree No. 741 introduces the mandatory participation of the traffic police in the inspection of buses.

The procedure itself for passenger cars will be controlled only by the operator, but, as we indicated above, with mandatory photo fixation. At the same time, if the car does not pass the test, the driver will not be fully deployed. To be more precise, in this case, the inspection will be passed in 2 stages:

1. at the first, main stage, the car is checked, and as a result of diagnostics, a malfunction is found in it, in which, in accordance with the Basic Regulations on the admission, the operation of the car is prohibited (for example, different tires on the same axle),
2. then the car owner is sent to correct this discrepancy, and within 20 calendar days he will be obliged to show the car to the same operator - the latter will not check the entire car again, but only the malfunction that was detected at the first stage - in our example, the specialist will check only the conformity of tires on one axis.

You can see a complete list of all such malfunctions on the AvtoTonkosti website in the Basic Provisions (this is an Appendix to the SDA) and check for yourself in advance using a kind of "checklist" whether your car will pass the inspection the first time.

Electronic diagnostic card

Before the changes, a diagnostic card was required only for concluding an OSAGO agreement. However, to be honest, most often it was in the insurance company that you could buy a technical inspection without even stopping at the point of its passage.

But after the introduction of amendments, everything can change dramatically. The fact is that the diagnostic card is now becoming electronic and will be signed by the electronic signature of the maintenance operator. To get it, you will need to conduct a technical inspection.

Thus, after passing the procedure, data on its successful (or unsuccessful) implementation, the vehicle data will be entered into a special database, where they will have to be stored for at least 5 years. But the driver can also be given a paper printed copy. Although, it will not be required - there are no plans to change the traffic rules regarding the new obligation to present it to the traffic police officer for verification.

Penalty for lack of inspection

The Administrative Code is also awaiting an update - it introduces a new part 1.1 to article 12.5, which will provide for a fine of 2,000 rubles for the absence of a diagnostic card. The new fine will come into force a year later - from March 1, 2022.

If we are talking about a new passenger car, then formally you are required to undergo a technical inspection from the very beginning of the fourth year after the date of issue - above we considered an example and the fact that the year of manufacture is considered complete. Thus, if, for example, your car was produced even on December 31, 2021, then from the very beginning of 2025 you are required to undergo an inspection, and formally a fine of 2 thousand rubles can be issued starting from January 1, 00:00, 2025 .  

Recourse from the insurance

Together with a new measure of responsibility for failure to pass MOT, another measure of a kind of punishment is introduced - a recourse requirement from the insurer if you get into an accident through your own fault, and the diagnostic card will expire at that moment.

That is, the insurance company in this case pays the damage caused by you to the victim in an accident, and collects this amount from you.

But the most important subtlety is that regression is possible in 2 cases:

• if you deliberately did not pass the technical inspection and did not receive a diagnostic card,
• if you passed the maintenance in good faith, but the card was canceled due, for example, to the deprivation of the license of the inspection point where you passed it.

At the same time, in the latter case, no one is obliged to notify you of the revocation of a license - the legislators did not provide for this in the amendments. And the OSAGO contract itself does not terminate its action because of this, that is, the insurer does not have the right to terminate it.

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