Free NCT tests for all, it’s the 30-day rule

THE rules are very simple. If you apply for an NCT and there is no appointment available within 30 days, you are entitled to the test for free. Right now, the backlog for testing is such that it is a safe bet to say almost no one should be paying for tests at all, given that average waiting times are greater than that and, at many test centres, closer to three months.

The demand has been fuelled by changes to penalty point laws that can see you get three points on your licence if your NCT cert is out of date. This can happen multiple times so, theoretically, if you were unlucky and four different gardaí spotted it, your car could be off the road.

That incentive has, naturally, galvanised many to action and the test centres are swamped. Yet when people who phone for appointments point out that they are entitled to the test for free if none is available within 30 days, they have been fobbed off and told they should take it up with customer service.

The car-testing programme is conducted by the Spanish firm Applus – a highly profitable contract awarded by the Department of the Environment through a tender process. It cannot deny knowledge of this penalty clause, and the fact that its public relations department disputes the waiting times is not a good sign.

Nonetheless, at a time when we demand increased standards across all public services, Applus should be forced to display information about free tests on its home page, not in the small print – and, if necessary, company bosses should be called before the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee to explain why backlogs are not being cleared and, especially, why motorists are being charged for its inability to operate as efficiently as promised.

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