1,000-dinar fee to remain for registering older Gulf-plated cars

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

The registration fee for Gulf-plated vehicles more than five years old will remain at 1,000 dinars, after the government rejected a parliamentary proposal to reduce the charge to between 300 and 700 dinars.

MPs had called for the fee to be lowered to 300 dinars for vehicles that entered Bahrain before October 2024, along with a 30-day grace period for citizens to regularise their vehicles. The proposal was submitted during an October 2024 sitting by MP Hanan Fardan and o t h e r lawmakers, who argued that high costs were placing an unfair burden on low-income citizens.

The government cited traffic data showing the number of registered vehicles increasing by 3.26 per cent annually, or around 20,000 vehicles a year. Total registrations reached 749,376 in 2023, up from 545,155 in 2013 and 273,230 in 2003.

Under Article 98 of Decision No. 154 of 2015, imported used private cars, passenger transport vehicles and motorcycles more than five years old, as well as some heavy vehicles over ten years old, cannot normally be registered. Exceptions apply to vintage vehicles, diplomatic missions and government bodies.

However, Ministerial Decision No. 17 of 2021 amended Article 98 to allow the registration of imported private vehicles over five years old, provided owners pay 1,000 dinars to open a registration file. The government said the policy is intended to prevent Bahrain from becoming a destination for vehicles that fail safety standards.

Additional exemptions apply to vehicles belonging to diplomatic staff, Bahrainis working or studying abroad whose cars were exported from Bahrain, and government institutions when required. The government stressed that the fee is a regulatory restriction rather than a ban, applied only to those choosing to import older vehicles.

MPs said the fee, combined with 15 per cent taxes and customs duties, has forced some owners to remove their vehicles from Bahrain, arguing that a lower fee and grace period would help citizens regularise their status.