2006 Marchamo Goes On Sale Today
Beginning today, Monday, the Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS) begins to collect the 2006 Marchamo. The Marchamo is a vehicles' circulation permit and must be paid by December 31, or face fines and possible confiscation of the vehicle.

The cost of the Marchamo includes the obligatory insurance and an assortment of taxes. For the 2006 year, INS is expected to collect fees from 792.589 vehicles for a total income of ¢61.4 million colones (us$1.25 million dollars).

The Marchamo is payable at any one of the 700 points of sale, 200 more than last year, that include insurance agent offices and banks - both private and state. Payments can also be made over the internet.

This year the Marchamo is on average 20% more expensive than last year mainly due to higher insurance premiums. An average vehicle that paid ¢9.800 for the insurance portion in 2005, will pay ¢11.800 for 2006.

To find out how much to pay for the 2006 Marchamo, the INS will take calls at 243-9999 or on their toll free number 800-MARCHAMO (6272426). The amount payable is also available online at www.ins-cr.com.

To obtain the 2006 Marchamo, the owner of the vehicle, in addition to the payment, must also have the Riteve vehicular revision up to date and the license plate number of the vehicle being paid for. The INS database has all the vehicle information available and the amount to be paid.

Paying early can mean no lineups as the whole process takes about 5 minutes. However, most vehicle owners wait until the last weeks of December, when lines can mean a wait of up to 2 hours or more at some agencies.

A sample breakdown of the cost of the 2006 Marchamo: