RMV: No inspections through at least Friday
Vehicle inspections will not be performed through at least Friday due to an ongoing problem with a Registry of Motor Vehicles vendor, the RMV said.
“Vehicle owners with expired 2021 stickers should plan to obtain inspection by the end of April,” the registry said in a tweet. “Additional time will be granted for failed motor vehicle inspection and retests.”
There have been no vehicle inspections since last Tuesday due to a problem with its vendor, Applus Technologies Inc. of Shrewsbury, in Massachusetts and several other states.
“The RMV shares the frustrations and disappointment with the tremendous inconvenience Applus’s outage is causing and recognizes the significant impacts on customers and business owners across the Commonwealth,” Acting Registrar of Motor Vehicles Colleen Ogilvie said. “The RMV remains committed to its efforts to ensure Applus makes Massachusetts a priority in quickly and safely returning the inspection program to operation.”
In a statement Tuesday, Applus CEO Darrin Greene said: “We take very seriously our responsibility to provide the highest quality, most reliable vehicle inspection and emissions testing services to our customers, and we pledge to have service restored as quickly as possible.”
The RMV said it has asked law enforcement to show discretion in citing drivers who had an expired inspection sticker and who may have tried to obtain a new one.
The registry is allowing a grace period for certain expired motor vehicle inspections.
Vehicles with expired inspection stickers from
March 2021 and vehicles purchased or registered on or after March 23 should be granted until April 30, 2021, to obtain an inspection.
Drivers who recently had an inspection rejection and are in the 60-day free retest window will be afforded one extra day for each day Applus’s system remains unavailable.
The vendor last week said that it detected and stopped a malware attack, which had interrupted vehicle inspections in Massachusetts and other locations.
The restoration involved will take some time to fully restore the functionality inspections, the company said, but it did not say how long the process could take.
MASSDOT authorized a five-year, $30 million contract with Applus, from Oct. 1, 2017, to Sept. 30, 2022, for a minimum of 4.4 million inspections.
For updates on inspections, visit http:// Mass.gov/rmv.