Stickerless shock is over for most drivers
» The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles announced Friday its out-of-state vendor, Applus Technologies, which operates the state’s vehicle inspection system has corrected most of the complex technical issues that shut down the service after a malware attack in late March and began vehicle inspections at most stations on Saturday, April 17.
Inspections resumed at most inspection stations Saturday, while some inspection stations are experiencing more complex technological issues.
Applus will continue to work to resolve these issues so that inspection services can be restored as soon as possible, according to the RMV.
Under the contract, Applus must compensate inspection station owners for each day that workstations were not operational during defined business hours.
The state fully expects Applus to compensate the inspection station owners for the prolonged outages, as well as additional compensations to those stations which were unable to begin conducting inspections on Saturday. Applus assumes full responsibility for restoring systems as rapidly as possible, according to the RMV.
Because of the service’s outage, the RMV is extending a grace period for specific motor vehicle inspection requirements, according to the RMV.
The requirements are outlined below and include an extension which now allows vehicle owners with expired March 2021 and April 2021 inspections stickers to have through May 31, 2021, to obtain inspections.
The RMV is working in close partnership with the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, the Massachusetts State Police and other stakeholders to mitigate the impacts of the outage.
The RMV has advised law enforcement agencies that compliance with the safety/emissions inspection requirement has not been possible since March 30, in light of the outage caused by the malware attack against Applus.
Motor vehicles with expired inspection stickers from March 2021 (“3” sticker on windshield) and April 2021 (“4” sticker on windshield) are extended until May 31, 2021, to obtain an inspection, according to the RMV.
Newly purchased vehicles registered on or after Tuesday, March 23, 2021, should be granted until April 30, 2021, to obtain an inspection.
Newly purchased vehicles must typically be inspected within seven days of registration, according to the RMV.
Customers 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 but should plan to facilitate their inspection as soon as possible once the system is restored and stations are online, according to the RMV.
Historically, motor vehicle inspections average approximately 15,000 per day, with as many as 20,000-plus inspections being conducted on the first two days of the month and the last two days of the month.
The RMV estimates that there are approximately 30,000 cars due in March and 160,000 cars due in April that require an inspection.
Please visit https:// w w w. m a v e h i c l e c h - eck.com/ for more information on the outage. information and details on these and other RMV service offerings during the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit www.mass.gov/rmv or