Government allows private workshops to perform vehicle inspections

Argentina's government has authorized private workshops to conduct the mandatory vehicle technical inspection (RTO), a process previously monopolized by official VTV plants. This change, effective immediately, aims to streamline the procedure for vehicle owners.

The Secretariat of Transport will oversee a new registry where all data from inspections performed by authorized private workshops will be uploaded. This move follows an announcement by Chief of Staff Manuel Adorni, who stated that the inscription registry for private workshops would open, effectively ending the VTV monopoly.

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From tomorrow, the registration for authorized private workshops to carry out the Mandatory Technical Inspection will open. The VTV monopoly ends.

This reform is part of a broader deregulation effort. Months prior, the government had already eased VTV requirements, extending the grace period for new vehicles to five years and allowing any workshop with the necessary equipment to perform the inspection. The elimination of the "model configuration report" was also part of that earlier reform.

While the government had previously pushed for these changes, they faced legal challenges from industry associations. The latest publication in the Official Gazette appears to have cleared the path for private sector participation, though individual provinces still need to formally adopt the new regulations.

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This decree allows us to move forward with reforming a procedure that is an inexhaustible source of complaints from Argentines: the VTV (or Mandatory Technical Inspection, RTO).