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Privatise Belgium’s vehicle inspection market, urges VAB
A vehicle inspection in Belgium costs on average twice as much as in neighbouring countries, requires long waiting times and can potentially damage the engine, report Het Laatste Nieuws and De Morgen based on the conclusion of a comparative survey by Belgium’s largest roadside assistance company VAB.
Almost half of the survey respondents report queuing for an inspection for as long as 20 minutes to more than an hour. "Too long," says VAB spokesman Maarten Matienko. "There are too few inspection centres, just 77. In the Netherlands, by comparison, there are 9,500 inspection centres. Of course they have to inspect 6.7 million vehicles per year - twice as many as in Belgium - but still the difference is huge."
VAB would like the federal government to look into the possibility of privatising the market for vehicle car inspection, which would not only lead to more inspection centres, but also lower rates.
There is nothing wrong with the quality of the inspection, Matienko adds. "Only the CO2 emissions test makes us shudder. The diesel particulate filter is tested by putting the gas pedal to the floor. Revving the engine like that is not only unnecessary, but it also increases the risk of engine damage."
Comments
Also, but not least, bribing is comon in these centers where professionals can make pass cars that should not. Some smployees of a few centers perform "issues" to make people gilty and give them tips.... this happened to me in Evere center where one specific employee (known for such trick) acused me of "spiting on the inner floor" while I was outside the building when that happened.... Privatisation can by the way help clear these dirty practices.
Pierre Lambert
Yes, privatising is good as will be more competitive. I think the job Controle Technique does is good but the waiting times are appalling.
For me, the existing Keuring Centra are limited from carrying out tasks that would benefit the customer. I once had to return twice to the autokeuring for a misaligned headlamp, after trying to correct it myself without the alignment equipment. Eventually I produced an allen key whilst at the keuring centre and corrected the lamp whilst it was being tested. I considered rewarding the tester for not stopping me from doing so, but it would be far better if they were able to do such small tasks (Lamp replacement, lamp alignment, tyre pressures, wiper blades, etc) - billable, of course.