An average of two foreign-registered cars were impounded every week by the transport regulator in 2017, as the vehicles were circulating illegally on Maltese roads.

It transpires that during the period under review a total of 173 cars were impounded by Transport Malta, of which 108 had foreign plates.

In such cases, the owner can reclaim the car by paying a removal fee to Transport Malta, a storage fee and a €35 administrative fine. 

By law, when buying a car from abroad, there is a 30-day limit to have the vehicle inspected and registered by the local authorities. A similar arrangement applies for foreigners with a permanent residence permit who are also obliged to follow the same procedure. Failure to meet this deadline would result in a daily €30 fine until the situation is regularised. 

However, non-residents and tourists are allowed to use their car for a maximum of seven months per calendar year without registering, on condition they have their normal residence outside Malta and have non-resident status. 

The presence of foreign-registered cars on the island, whose number have increased in recent years due to the influx of migrant workers, has become a sore point for law-abiding Maltese motorists. They claim that authorities are turning a blind eye to traffic contraventions committed by drivers at the wheel of foreign-registered cars, as more often than not the culprits are hard to trace. 

Aggrieved motorists four years ago had joined forces and opened a Facebook page, by the name of Carpark Paradise. Administrators insist their only objective is to fight discrimination against Maltese drivers especially on issues like illegal parking. 

This kind of contravention is by far the most common offence committed on Maltese roads, not only by foreigners but also Maltese. 

It transpires that in 2017, the highest number of traffic-related fines issued by Transport Malta was over illegal parking with 4,673 out of the 14,034 tickets issued.  

The total marks a 38 per cent rise over 2016, and the majority of tickets were issued in St Julian’s, St Paul’s Bay and Malta International Airport. 

The second most common contraventions were expired road licences (2,779) followed by vehicles which had no licence affixed to the windscreen (2,550). 

Meanwhile, more than 15,000 parking tickets were issued by the police during the same 12-month period. 

This equates to an average of 55 parking tickets per day, between traffic police and Transport Malta officers.