150.000 Still To Pay
2008 Marchamo
If you are one of the
more than 150.000 people
who have yet to pay
their 2008 Marchamo -
the annual circulation
permit - fines and
interest started
accumulating yesterday
and the Policía de
Tránsito (traffic
police) started issuing
partes (traffic
tickets).
The ticket for driving
without the 2008
marchamo is only ¢10.000
colones (us$20). But,
Tránsito officials can
and probably will take
the plates off your
vehicle, which can
involve a process that
can only be described as
a nightmare, that will
take you to the offices
of Cosevi in La Uruca to
pay the fine and get a "constancia"
(record of payment) and
then a visit to the
local court office where
the plate was
confiscated to retrieve
it.
The fine can be paid at
any state bank, but in
any event, you have to
visit Cosevi for the
constancia.
According to Huanelgue
Gutiérrez, subdirector
of the Policía de
Tránsito, there is no
special operations in
play to catch non-payers
at the moment, but that
can change.
Yesterday, on the
carretera Fernando
Prospero, in front of
the Multiplaza, Tránsito
officials with radar
units caught more than
100 drivers speeding, a
number of which had not
paid their marchamo. The
event was captured by
the news cameras,
orchestrated by the
Policía de Tránsito to
drive the message home.
The excuse by many
yesterday was that the
banks were closed on
Monday (December 31),
the due date to pay the
2008 Marchamo.
However, there is no
excuse today and
according to
Gutiérrez, there is no
grace period as was the
case years ago, when the
traffic officials waited
until January 15 to
start ticketing.
The grace period was
given due to the lack of
the INS to provide a
proper system of
collecting, creating
long lines at INS
offices and a small
number of independent
insurance agents.
Today, the INS has more
than 800 collection
points, including banks. |
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