The price of a motor vehicle roadworthiness test has gone up to €30 while the price of certain cigarette brands rose by 10c to reflect increases in costs.
VRT fees increased by €5 in 2021 and a further €5 at the beginning of this year following an agreement signed with the government in 2019.
In the case of standard private cars that can carry no more than eight passengers, excluding the driver, the tariff has increased to €30.27 as from January 1, 2023.
The price increase reflects what had been discussed and agreed in 2019.- Abigail Agius Mamo, Chamber of SMEs
By law, private cars are subject to this test four years after the date of first registration and biennially thereafter.
Once the vehicle’s mileage exceeds 160,000km the VRT must be carried out annually.
No public announcement has been made on the increase in the cost of a VRT test but Abigail Agius Mamo, CEO of the Chamber of SMEs, confirmed when contacted that the price increase reflects what had been discussed and agreed in 2019.
She explained that the fees had originally been established with the introduction of the required test in 1999 and were never revised, except for once in 2006 to reflect the three per cent increase in VAT.
Fee needs to reflect rising costs
Station owners, through the Chamber of SMEs, had been requesting a revision for several years as they wanted the test fee to reflect cost-of-living adjustments along the years as well as rising costs such as labour costs and expenses related to the upkeep of equipment.
There are around 40 VRT stations spread out across Malta and Gozo.
Introduced in 1999, the VRT is meant to establish minimum basic standards for cars on the roads in terms of emissions, safety and the vehicle’s overall condition.
In recent years, a number of changes were introduced to the test to bring it in line with standardised procedures across other European Union member states.
Aside from the VRT, certain brands of cigarettes have joined the long list of everyday items which increase in price.
Some cigarette brands going up by 10c
Sources said popular brands like Rothmans, Dunhill, Pall Mall and Royals all increased by 10c. Other brands imported to Malta by a different importer have not yet gone up in price.
Sources close to the industry said the 10c increase was not much compared to how the price of daily items has been going up over the past months – a box of pasta is almost 50 per cent more expensive – but was needed to bring the products in line with inflation across the world.
Apart from rising shipping and freight costs, other items such as labour costs and cigarette machines had also increased in cost, the latter by 25 per cent.