Only cars that are registered and licensed will be eligible for scrapping under the new incentive scheme announced in the Budget, according to the Finance Ministry.

In Monday’s Budget speech it was announced that a new scrappage scheme would start functioning on November 15, under which people buying a new car that satisfies a number of eco-friendly criteria, and is of a “stipulated size”, will be able to trade in their old car for a substantial refund on the new one.

This refund, a ministry spokesman said, would be equal to 15.25 per cent of the invoice value of the vehicle, up to a maximum of €2,000.

The “stipulated size” of the vehicle mentioned in the speech was not explained, with the ministry saying the details of the scheme would be made public soon.

The proposal was the one that sparked most interest in the Budget speech, with the majority of the 150 calls to the Budget helpline being related to this topic.

It was also announced that when someone did not opt for the scrappage scheme, half of the 15.25 per cent would go towards a scheme to reduce the number of old cars on the road but details on how this scheme would work are still being drawn up.

This year, 6,685 vehicles were garaged and 3,181 vehicles were scrapped. The latest statistics also show there are over 303,000 licensed vehicles, a figure which keeps rising.

The government is striving to cut the number of cars on the roads, one of the main contributors to the country’s emissions.

It is also aiming to promote the use of cleaner, smaller cars and has announced incentives for those buying hybrid and electric vehicles. Malta aims to have 5,000 electric vehicles by 2020, serviced by charging points throughout the islands.