TertAm Armenia’s government has revealed blatant violations of the law and great corruption risks in the mandatory maintenance inspection of cars, the Prime Minister has said.

Speaking at a parliamentary meeting on Wednesday, Tigran Sargsyan said that those problems and corruption risks were widespread.

“We have found that there are the most serious corruption risks in the maintenance inspection [of cars]. [The maintenance inspection] stations give tickets without conducting inspection, and that was a widespread experience,” said Sargsyan.

The prime minister also said that according to a new government decision as of now the citizens will pay for maintenance inspection and receive those tickets at the banks so that to avoid any corruption risks.

Sargsyan went on to say that very often the money would be taken from citizens, while the maintenance inspection would not be conducted at all.

The government decision, according to him, does not run counter to the existing law.

“Our decision is not in favor of the owner of the technical inspection [station] but rather to the benefit of our citizens,” Sargsyan explained.

According to him, the decision will prompt competition among those companies that conduct the maintenance inspection of cars, which in turn will raise the quality of the service delievered.

“Car owners will not have to give that 5000 dram [around $14] bribe to those stations. Our goal is to eliminate corruption risks in this sector, said Tigran Sargsyan.