26 Jul July 26, 2016 Car users in Dubai are calling on the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) to make odometer rollback detection part of vehicle inspection. Lack of facilities to detect odometer tampering in Dubai is hurting used car buyers, with many falling prey to shady dealers who cheat unsuspecting customers. According to many motorists, dealers are getting away with the malpractice because none of the vehicle inspection centres in the city detects if the odometer was rolled back. Buyers think it would be a great service for people if the vehicle testing centers provided odometer testing facilities. One of the motorist reports that he took the fraudulent seller to court, but apparently the two test certificates with different odometer readings weren’t proof enough to find the seller guilty. “I requested RTA to produce a certificate as an evidence of tampering, which the court required, but I didn’t get any help from RTA,” he added. Sultan Al Marzouqi, director of RTA’s Vehicle Licensing Department, said that according to the prevailing laws, RTA can provide the documents or certificate of proof only when requested by an authorised government entity and in this case by Dubai Courts. He said that the annual vehicle inspection for vehicle registration only tests the vehicle for its road worthiness, which includes safety, and part of the inspection is to record the vehicle’s existing odometer reading. “Odometer tampering is not part of the road worthiness and hence it is not under the RTA’s jurisdiction during the vehicle inspection, but the functionality of the odometer itself is a part of the parameters and checked while undergoing the registration or renewal test,” he said. However, he added: “As part of our ongoing efforts, RTA is reviewing its current procedures which includes exploring the tools to minimize any meter tampering.” One easy way to check for odometer fraud is to compare the kilometre reading in the odometer with the last service reading. However, for those vehicles which have not been maintained at an agency or the previous owner has not kept a record of maintenance, it is near impossible to detect tampering. Buyers can protect themselves from fraud by following these steps: Always buy a used car from a reliable source. Always get the car inspected by a testing centre or reputed third party garage. Always ask the seller to provide proof of service/maintenance as the odometer readings are registered at the service time.
