Car Dealerships to Conduct Road-Worthiness Tests on Public Transport Vehicles
Jakarta. The government has allowed car distributors to conduct road-worthiness tests for public transportation vehicles as public facilities are unable to keep up with growing demand.
"Periodic testing conducted by car distributors is part of government efforts to encourage private participation and increase the capacity of public transport services," Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said on Monday (22/05).
A 2009 traffic law opened possibilities for private companies to conduct road-worthiness tests, though that regulation is only coming into force now.
In recent months, the government has tried to regulate vehicles used by emerging online car-hailing services by subjecting them to similar road-worthiness tests taken by taxis and buses. However, government-run test facilities often lack the equipment and manpower to meet rising demands.
In a bid to provide road-worthiness tests to a growing number of public transport vehicles across the archipelago, the government teamed up with Hibaindo Armada Motor, which sells Japanese-made Hino trucks.
For the past three months, Hibaindo has been conducting the road-worthiness tests as part of a pilot project, which the ministry now says it will extend into the foreseeable future. Other car dealerships will also be able to conduct road-worthiness tests going forward.
"All dealerships will have a maximum two years to consolidate human resources, governance, management information systems, equipments and test tariffs [...] So when its time to be accredited, the dealers will be able to pass it and carry out testing independently," said Budi.
In order to minimize conflicts of interest — as companies conduct tests on cars their dealerships sell — the ministry plans to conduct periodic inspections.
Budi also hopes that regional governments allow the company to conduct tests in their respective regions.
An earlier version of this article said only Hibaindo dealerships will be able to provide road-worthiness tests for public transport vehicles. That is incorrect, as all dealerships across the archipelago will now be certified to conduct tests on behalf of the government.
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