Switching to the newly rolled out license plates as the car owner did in the above picture requires passing the car inspection test at one of the mecanique centers. How on earth did this Renault 12 do it?!!
photo via Hamza Halabi
Tag Archives | mecanique
Bid Farewell to Long Queues at The Mecanique Centers
No matter how smart you try to be about timing your car inspection visit to the mecanique center in Hadath, it is almost always guaranteed to be like a trip down to hell. I personally utterly hate to take a day off for the sole purpose of waiting endlessly in long queues to get that stupid task done. And I dare call it stupid because all cars end up driving on the Lebanese roads regardless whether they pass or fail.
However, a new service by “Blink My Car” (the app that made car washing a tap away) seems to have found a workaround for that as it currently offers sending one of their officers to have your car inspected.
I got in contact with them and was informed that the process takes an average of 3 hours and costs 50,000L.L (in addition to the 35,000L.L inspection fees). To benefit from it, all you have to do is to request an appointments through the app and provide the officer with the car registration license.
Once your car passes you will of course have to pay the mecanique fees which can be done at Naf3a, Banks, and some certified centers, but if you wish them to pay it on your behalf then you can pay an additional 25,000L.L and also have one of their officers pay it within 48 hours.
I believe this is pretty convenient for employees especially those with strict working hours, and the service fee is both fair and absolutely worth it.
For those who are not familiar with the app, the cool people at “Blink My Car” were kind enough to provide me with a free promo code for people to try their car wash service when I was inquiring them about the mecanique thing. All you have to do is download their app (for either iOS or Android) and enter the code “plus961free” to benefit from a free wash. There’s no limit set for the code so feel free to tell your friends as well!
Penalty Reduction on Mecanique Fees Until February 2017
I rarely give any importance to the laws passed by the Lebanese parliament, but I know this one matters to lot of people and that’s why I’m sharing it here.
The parliament authorized yesterday a reduction on mecanique fee penalties for people who have not paid their dues over the past years. The reduction is expected to be up to 90% and you have until the end of February 2017 to benefit from it.
However note that the inspection centers are currently closed due to the transportation unions strike, so you might have to wait a bit before you can inspect your car and pay your dues.
What’s All The Fuss About Automotive Inspection Fee Hike?
Have you ever been through the horrible experience of taking your car to one of the “mecanique” inspection centers in Hadath or other areas? The last time I went there 2 years ago I spent 6 hours there waiting in endless queues. The whole experience makes you pray for your car to pass the inspection not because you hate going to your mechanic, but rather because you want to avoid wasting another day over such silly task!
A while ago, it was announced that a new company called Autospect won the bid for running the existing inspection centers, and that part of its plan over the next year is to increase the number of inspection centers from 4 to 17 across the country which will help reducing the time needed to go through the inspection to 15 minutes, with the possibility to book your appointment online. This however will be at the cost of increasing the current fees from $22 to $33 out of which $5 are a new government tax.
Next thing we know, public transportation drivers started protesting the price hike by closing vital roads around Beirut every week or so. Disregarding how much I hate it when a group of people start blocking streets to make their points, I found their protests to be utterly weird.
Out of all the fuck ups in our country, this $11 or 16,500L.L increase is seriously the reason why these drivers are wasting their precious time to organize these protests? I bet each and every one of these people earns more than that amount per day, but given how sensitive they are about such increase, how on earth can they afford sacrificing their income by going to such all day protests?
I personally think it must be one of two things, the protesters are either not public drivers but rather people who for some reason believe the new developments are not of their interests, or the transportation unions are simply controlled by some influencing figures/businessmen who didn’t win the bid.
Either ways, whoever is willing to reduce the inspection time to 15 minutes can take my money because I’m tired of finding a “simsar” each time I have to take my car to the Hadath center! Protesting against such progress is ridiculous, and no please don’t demand for the government to handle the inspection process instead!
OMT knows more than it should!
I got this SMS from OMT a few days ago informing me that my mecanique fees which are due this month can be paid at some of their branches.
While I know this makes one’s life easier, I can’t but wonder how did OMT know my mecanique fees are due this month? And how exactly did they get hold of my phone number? It’s clear they have a deal with the ministry of finance, but that doesn’t justify giving them such kind of confidential data for marketing purposes!
I’m sure some employees at OMT can make copies of these data, so don’t be surprised if you find them online anytime soon.
Grace period to pay outstanding mecanique fees extended
This will probably upset people who got stuck for hours at the mecanique center and Nefaa, but it’s definitely good news to those who still didn’t pay their outstanding fees including myself!
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Friday that he has extended the year-end deadline so that more people could benefit from a 90 percent reduction on outstanding vehicle fees.
“We have extended the grace period for people to pay their outstanding vehicle fees for two months,” Charbel told Voice of Lebanon Radio Station. Source
People fainting at Nefaa
Here’s what you get when everyone (including myself) postpone paying their mecanique fees till the end of December. Some people fainted while waiting in lines today!
Regardless of how crowded the place is, the corruption you get to witness there is guaranteed to cause you a heart attack while waiting.