RIYADH — Citizens are complaining that transfer of ownership of vehicles through car showrooms, which was introduced recently, lacks organization, Al-Riyadh newspaper reported Wednesday. In an unprecedented move, the Traffic Department recently assigned the task of transfer of ownership of vehicles to designated car showrooms. This was within the department's efforts to use modern technology in offering services to the public. Despite the smoothness of the process, citizens and expatriates are complaining that they are being exploited. Though they have been spared the trouble of standing in long queues at the Traffic Department's offices to transfer the ownership of their vehicles, several citizens complained to Al-Riyadh by telephone about what they considered exploitation by some car showrooms, which raised the charges for their services after the new move. The Traffic Department has authorized car showrooms to carry out the transfer of ownership electronically at these showrooms through the “Tamm” program. Citizens and expatriates are immediately issued a temporary document showing that they own the vehicle. The vehicle registration (istimara) is then sent by mail within 24 hours inside the city where the transfer took place and within 48 hours if it has to go to any other city. However, not specifying a ceiling for the fees charged by car showrooms for providing this service has led to chaos with differences in fees charged by the showrooms. A random field check by Al-Riyadh revealed that the charges levied by the showrooms ranged from SR300 to SR600. Showroom owners justified the hike and variation in charges, attributing it to the responsibility they bear, operational costs and the fees charged by the government as well as the company providing the service. Sultan Al-Mutairi, a car showroom owner, said the showroom owner bears the consequences of a transfer of ownership at his showroom. In addition, he pays the SR75 fee charged by the Traffic Department and a similar amount to the company providing the service, he said. "This means that if a showroom charges SR500 for a transaction, it actually gets SR350," he added. Al-Mutairi said if a car enters the showroom it might remain there for several days, especially when it needs a Motor Vehicle Periodic Inspection (MVPI), occupying valuable space in the showroom. "There is also the responsibility of safeguarding the vehicle. SR400 or SR500 is not a big amount considering all these," he said. Al-Mutairi confirmed that the amount the showroom owner actually gets ranges from SR250 to SR300. "This is a reasonable amount as the client gets his car under his name in record time. One must also take into consideration the responsibilities and costs the showroom owner bears." Al-Mutairi said the difference in charges between showrooms is natural taking into consideration each showroom's circumstances. He said this would lead to a healthy competition and a subsequent drop in the charges. He pointed out that there are showrooms that charge less than SR300 for the transfer of ownership. Othman Al-Zamil, who buys and sells cars, said the idea of authorizing showrooms to transfer ownership of vehicles is not viable yet. "It is in favor of showroom owners rather than the citizens," he said, adding that the vehicle registrations, which are sent by mail, sometimes do not reach the car owner. Al-Zamil said some people have purchased cars and waited for five days, but the istimara did not reach them. They were forced to visit the Traffic Department. He said not regulating car ownership transfer has left the door wide open for showroom owners to set the prices they see fit. "This has led to a kind of exploitation." He added that the service offered by the showrooms does not cover all cars and is therefore incomplete. They do not transfer a car whose owner has died or one owned by a woman not holding a civil status card and cars weighing more than three tons. Also a woman who wants to transfer ownership to anyone under 18 cannot get it done at the showroom. In all these cases, the ownership transfer has to be carried out through the Traffic Department itself.
