A total of 125 cars bearing foreign registration plates were impounded by the police between December 2015 and last March, since they were not in line with Maltese law.
Following a parliamentary question by shadow minister Marthese Portelli, Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela said that 90 of these cars were being held at the police garage in Notre Dame Ditch in Floriana, with the remaining being kept at St Andrew’s Compound in Pembroke.
Last December, Minister Abela said 364 such cars were in the Pembroke depot, after being confiscated by the Courts.
Besides the police, Transport Malta also confiscated foreign cars found to be in breach of the law.
Answering another question by Dr Portelli, Transport Minister Joe Mizzi informed Parliament last December that the transport watchdog was holding another 70 impounded cars.
At law, a foreign-registered car may circulate freely in Malta on a temporary basis that does not exceed an aggregate of seven months within a 12-month period.
Answering a question by Nationalist MP Kristy Debono, the Transport Minister said last January that the authorities did not collect data about these cars.
A month later, following a parliamentary question by Nationalist MP Censu Galea, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said that a speed camera in Regional Road registered 39 incidents of speeding on December 6, 2015.
In 17 of these instances, Transport Malta was unable to issue a fine as the watchdog was not in possession of owners’ details since the car had a foreign registration number plate.
Criticism has been levelled that the authorities for turning a blind eye to foreign cars in breach of the law, especially in tourist areas.
In most cases the cars either had no road licence affixed, were not insured, or had been imported as second-hand vehicles. Some EU countries, among them the UK, have abolished tax discs, with authorities relying on an electronic database instead.
Facebook group Carpark Paradise was set up last year to flag traffic contraventions involving foreign cars.
It has gained huge popularity, and to date counts more than 2,600 members.
In principle it was easier for the Maltese authorities to monitor EU-registered vehicles.
Since August, following the entry into force of the European cross-border enforcement directive, Transport Malta has the means to trace the owners on a centralised EU database on EU-registered vehicles.
However, the wardens do not have direct access to this system and have to follow a cumbersome and bureaucratic procedure, which means that requests were taking quite some time to process.
The scenario is proving to be more difficult for the Maltese authorities to trace the owners of foreign cars that were registered outside the EU.
Spot checks are being carried out to ensure that the necessary documents are in place. Cars found to be without the proper papers are towed away.
The details of these undocumented cars are then published in the Government Gazette.
If within a month they are not reclaimed by their owners, the transport watchdog, the police or the local council may dispose of the vehicles and even sell them to cover the expenses.
On the other hand, if the owners decide to reclaim their car, they are fined for the towing and the storage expenses and must either register the vehicle with Transport Malta or send it back to their country at their own expense.