On 24 May the Law on the electronic register of the history of road vehicles registered in Romania (Law no. 142/2023) was promulgated.
According to the document, the register is set up and managed by the Autonomous Regia “Romanian Auto Register” (RAR).
It consists of the information obtained by RAR during the services performed by RAR involving the identification of the road vehicle or during the periodic technical inspection at RAR dealerships or periodic technical inspection stations authorised according to the legislation in force, from the information transmitted to RAR by the workshops for the inspection of tachographs and/or speed limiters authorised according to the legislation in force, from the information submitted to RAR by the economic operators authorised according to the legislation in force who carry out repair, maintenance, functional adjustments, constructive modifications and rebuilding of road vehicles, hereinafter referred to as authorised economic operators, as well as from the information submitted to RAR by the manufacturers of road vehicles, their authorised representatives, importers or distributors of new road vehicles.
Please note that, according to the law, it is forbidden to manipulate the odometer of a motor vehicle, to request the manipulation of the odometer or any action that may influence the accurate recording of the number of kilometres covered by a motor vehicle. Odometer tampering means the fraudulent practice of deliberately and unauthorisedly altering the actual odometer reading of a motor vehicle. If the odometer is defective or not working properly, the owner/user mentioned in the vehicle registration certificate is obliged to repair or replace it without delay at authorised dealers.
We underline that the authorised periodic technical inspection stations, as well as the authorised workshops for the inspection of tachographs and/or speed limiters are obliged to transmit to RAR, on the occasion of each inspection carried out, information on the vehicle identification number and the odometer reading of the vehicle under inspection.
According to the legal regulations in force, authorized economic operators are obliged:
- a) to transmit to RAR, on the occasion of each service performed, information on the vehicle identification number and the odometer reading of the vehicle subject to the service in question.
- b) to transmit to the RAR information related to the repair and/or replacement of the odometer of the motor vehicles, including the value of the odometer reading before and after the intervention;
- c) to send information to RAR on the vehicle identification number and the main repair operations for all road vehicles on which repairs have been carried out following events causing serious damage to the steering system, the braking system, the resistance structure of the body or chassis or other active or passive safety systems established by order of the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure.
Authorised economic operators who are authorised by the manufacturer of the vehicle in question or by his authorised representative, in addition to the obligations mentioned above, are obliged to transmit to RAR, on the occasion of the first presentation of the vehicle in the repair network of the manufacturer in question or at the express request of RAR, the information already existing in the database of the manufacturer in question regarding the history of the odometer reading for vehicles that were previously registered in other countries.Moreover, manufacturers of road vehicles, their authorized dealers, importers and distributors of new road vehicles must submit to RAR information on recall campaigns for road vehicles that have been registered, registered or placed on the market in Romania, initiated if one or more systems, equipment, components or separate technical units installed on the road vehicle pose a significant risk to road safety, public health or environmental protection, including information on the evolution of these campaigns.
Responsibility for damage caused to third parties as a result of the incorrect collection, input or transmission of data and/or information rests with the entities and persons who carried out these activities.
It is very important to point out that RAR issues, upon request and against payment, to the owners of motor vehicles intended for the transport of persons who have, in addition to the driver’s seat, not more than 8 seats – passenger cars, a certificate called “RAR Auto-Pass” which contains the information in the register on the history of odometer reading, involvement of the road vehicle in an event that caused serious damage to the steering system, braking system, body or chassis strength structure or other active or passive safety systems, as well as failure of the road vehicle to appear in a recall campaign for road vehicles that have been registered, registered or placed on the market in Romania.
In the event that no information on the road vehicle is available in the register, instead of the “RAR Auto-Pass” certificate, RAR will issue free of charge a document mentioning this fact.