End of the problem of liquidation and identification of auninsured and idle vehicles attempts to put the bill of the Ministry of National Economy and Finance which began to be discussed, from today, to the competent parliamentary committee.

“We all agree that the current situation, with 500,000 uninsured vehicles to circulate, cannot continue. You may have an accident and not be covered while you are insured. We noticed in Thessaly, which was hit by major disasters, that many vehicles were not insured. It is a problem and the bill comes to provide a substantial solution, to make the cross-checks electronic now, with modern tools”, said the Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance Thanos Petralias, during the debate.

The deputy minister also referred to the fines in case of late payment of traffic fees. “Until today, extensions were given. Then, if you were even a day late, you had to pay a 100% surcharge. Now an institutional framework is introduced which states that until 31/12 the fees are paid and if you are one month late, they are increased by 25%, not 100%, if you are two months late, they are increased by 50% and from three months onward there is a 100% increase”, write down.

In relation to the provision of the bill which concerns government contractors, who continue to work, Mr. Petralias said that the ministry worked out the solution, months ago, when the issue was raised by the OTAs and by New Democracy MPs. The provision applies to fixed-term workers who work until their retirement certificate is issued and they receive their pension, the deputy finance minister said, adding that in the meantime there was no clear provision in the law. “The existing law says that there is no wage progression as long as it has been used to calculate the pension. It doesn’t say that you are returning to the ranks,” said Mr. Petralias and added: “It is unfair and illogical for a person who has a position in the State, to continue working in this position and in the last year of his retirement, to tell them to return to the entry level and be paid as a new entrant. So they continue to be paid at the pay scale they are in until they retire. The issue is being resolved and apparently what has been verified is not paid.”

Earlier, ND rapporteur Michalis Papadopoulos pointed out that AADE data showed 1.5 years ago that approx. 300,000 vehicles are idle and many are not known where they are. Therefore, the bill, he underlined, summarizes the situation. The ND MP said that the proposed provisions aim to protect those injured by accidents in the event of the insolvency of an insurance company, the administrative regulation of idle and uninsured vehicles, the pilot regulation of market infrastructures based on distributed ledger technology, the utilization of public property while simultaneously settling the situation of these properties, meeting the needs of AADE. Especially for idle vehicles, Michalis Papadopoulos pointed out that clearing the vehicle register has been a huge problem for many years, and now a complete system of finding and clearing idle and uninsured vehicles is being introduced. At the same time, a control mechanism is established for insurance, technical control and the payment of traffic fees.

The rapporteur of SYRIZA Giorgos Gavrilos acknowledged that a step forward is being made for the problem of idle vehicles. He pointed out, however, that the bill is characterized by scattered provisions, many of which do not meet the real needs. “We think there are positive regulations regarding the car space. But the government is not proceeding with a decisive integration of the relevant databases for vehicles and the financial obligations and controls concerning them, which are a request of all sectors, around motoring”, said the SYRIZA MP.

As it became clear from the first day of discussion of the bill, the focus of the criticism of the opposition parties will be, in the following days, the arrangements for the owned properties of the State. Several representatives of the opposition parties referred to these provisions. The proposed provisions amend a law passed in 2023 on the conditions for submitting a request for the redemption of occupied properties.

PASOK’s special buyer Paris Koukoulopoulos, said that the integration of the Motor Liability Insurance Directive is in the right direction. But he called on the government to explain why it delayed proceeding with the relevant legislative initiative and to answer whether the public administration is ready to respond to the provisions of the Directive, especially if there is readiness for cross-checks. Regarding the provisions for the owners of public properties, Mr. Koukoulopoulos said that the government must answer how many are the beneficiaries of these provisions who will pay less for these properties.

In the arrangements concerning the acquisition of occupied public real estate, its special buyer was also mentioned KKE Manolis Syntyhakis. “They are arrangements that facilitate the utilization of State property for the benefit of business activity, industrial, agricultural, tourism and various other cases of business activity. Essentially, the opportunity is given to the big trespassers, who, after stepping on the state land, declared it to claim it. They are now given the opportunity to become owners with the right of redemption with a title from the state itself,” said the KKE member of parliament.

“The bill includes provisions for sell-offs called “utilizations,” in the memo jargon of the sinful Superfund,” said its special buyer Hellenic Solution Vassilis Viliardos and added: “The regulations are amendments to a bill for the redemption of oppressed people that was submitted just before the 2023 elections, where we had many reservations, mainly because there is no record of the fixed assets of the State. How is it really possible to discuss the way we will sell when we do not know what we have to sell?”

“There is a social problem. Our bona fide fellow-citizens, who have owned a portion, for many years, of property, and who evidently cannot be expelled from their homes. But solving the problem cannot be done without safeguards for the public interest. And here I think that the public interest is not protected at all, the acquisition measures are simply relaxed”, said the special buyer of the New Left Efi Ahtsioglou. The member of parliament pointed out that the presentation of aerial photographs, which is probably the most reliable evidence for when the property was acquired, is removed from the required supporting documents for the acquisition. It is also abolished, as he mentioned, the condition of having a building erected either by the end of 1991, if we are talking about 30 years of occupation, or by the end of 1981 if we are talking about 40 years of occupation, and is replaced by only one declaration of the property in E9 for the last five years.

“Our party, of course, is in favor of fixing a chronic problem, as households and businesses have been held hostage for decades with their assets in question. But we believe that the acquisition of encroached lands is done purely for vote-hunting reasons”, said the expert buyer of “Niki” Andreas Voryllas and warned: “This is a piece of legislation with several weaknesses and, very likely, it will legalize encroachments while the State did nothing to preserve his property”.

Measures for the insurance companies to cover their insured, instead of trying in every way to compensate to the smallest extent, requested the special buyer of the “Spartians” Ioannis Kontis. “There should also be a forecast of what insurance companies we have. Because they may insure vehicles, we may have compulsory insurance for everything and control, but we see that when the citizen, who has been damaged, rushes to find his right and to be covered by the insurance of the person responsible, the insurance companies are trying to wrap him up. You see that they beat you to a new car and try to repair it in their workshops, various pirate insurance companies”, said a member of parliament.

The assessment that the provisions for the Insurance Auxiliary Fund will lead to further burdens on citizens was expressed by the special buyer of Freedom of Navigation Alexandros Kazamias. “There will be an increase in insurance premiums for each driver. The citizen, the driver, is again called upon to cover this insurance gap in a regime where the large vehicle insurance companies in our country and in the European Union enjoy an almost oligopolistic status, charge premiums with limited control and competition and have in many cases significant gains,” said the Freedom of Navigation MP.