Issuing driving licenses, transport registration as most affected by corruption - CNA says

Chisinau, 7 September /MOLDPRES/- An assessment of the institutional integrity carried out by the CNA in the Department of Registration of Means of Transport and Driver Qualification of the Public Services Agency found several risks of corruption that would affect the daily activity of the institution.

According to the study, among the main risks identified are: the risk of fraudulent results of the car qualification exam, favoring candidates, active and passive corruption and influence peddling.

The data show that the existence of these risks of corruption is demonstrated by the large number of persons detained in flagrante delicto by CNA officers, between 2019 and 6 months of 2021. Amounts extorted by intermediaries to favor obtaining the "admitted" rating for a single trial varies between 350 and 500 euros, and for both tests (theoretical and practical), the extorted bribe reaches up to 1000 euros, depending on the geographical area of ​​the country.

The specialists from CNA reveal that the causes of these manifestations of corruption would derive from the Procedure for conducting the examination and the conditions for obtaining the right to drive vehicles, which is “a defective one”. Thus, some candidates are admitted to the exam in the absence of prior appointment. Another problem refers to the fraudulent realization of some appointments, which are later used in the interest of other people, against illicit remuneration. At the same time, the practice of unilaterally allocating candidates' files to certain examiners at the practice test would create conditions for corruption schemes.

Another issue, identified during the institutional integrity assessment, relates to the regulatory framework regarding the vehicle registration procedure, which would be defective and abusive. Thus, the admission of the registration and transfer of ownership of vehicles in national or international search, as well as of vehicles with the identification number intentionally, falsified or counterfeited would create conditions for the legalization of possible criminal schemes.

The evaluation also established that the current regulatory framework on road safety imposes excessive powers on authorities, capable of generating abuses. An example in this respect would be the faulty rules related to the procedure for destroying driving licenses, and the discriminatory rules regarding the procedure for changing the driving license obtained in the Transnistrian region.

CNA announces it has formulated and presented to the evaluated public entity, as well as to the Government and the line ministries, a lot of recommendations, the implementation of which is to be monitored later.