As the vehicle registration renewal deadline approaches, municipalities across Paraguay are facing extreme chaos due to the influx of taxpayers seeking to process their documents. Public dissatisfaction is surging, particularly in major metropolitan areas, with system crashes and operational delays. The National Traffic and Transit Agency (ANTSV) has now warned of sanctions against municipalities that fail to renew their fees.
System Crashes and Increasing Taxpayer Dissatisfaction
Municipalities in the Asunción metropolitan area, including Villa Elisa, Lambaré, and Fernando de la Mora, have been swamped with citizens visiting for vehicle registration renewals over the past few days. On Tuesday, June 17, in particular, long queues formed early in the morning in these areas, causing extreme inconvenience to citizens due to system access delays and slow processing speeds.
Rodolfo Amarilla, Director of Information at the Villa Elisa City Hall, attributed the primary cause of this chaos to the incomplete integration of vehicle data into the digital registration system established by Opaci (Paraguayan Municipalities Association) and ANTSV. Director Amarilla stated, "Many vehicle data, especially year information, are missing from the system, making it difficult to adjust values and specify models." He added that the large crowds converging at once were further exacerbating system overload.
The link provided by ANTSV last week for data verification also frequently crashed due to excessive traffic. Although ANTSV later provided data via Excel files, which eased processing somewhat, numerous deficiencies continue to fuel confusion on the ground.
Municipal Fee Renewal Obligations and Sanction Warnings
The National Traffic and Transit Agency (ANTSV) points to municipalities' delays in renewing vehicle registration fees as one of the main underlying issues in this situation. Susana Medina, Director of Driver's Licenses and Traffic Records at ANTSV, stated that a related decree is awaiting promulgation, and as soon as it takes effect, sanctions will commence against municipalities that have not updated their fees. Director Medina explained, "Currently, there are no fines for municipalities, but some municipalities are already renewing their fees in line with ANTSV's tax values, while others continue to apply previous values."
ANTSV plans to continuously monitor municipalities nationwide until this regulation is formalized. Director Medina emphasized that if the decree is definitively finalized this week, municipalities that have not renewed their fee structures will be subject to fines. This is in accordance with the regulation requiring each municipality to align vehicle registration fees with 0.3% of the vehicle tax value set by ANTSV.
Request for Fine Deferral and Taxpayer Precautions
Meanwhile, the Traffic Police (Patrulla Caminera) is set to begin cracking down on and penalizing drivers without vehicle registrations starting June 30. Director Medina stated, "The Traffic Police will conduct relevant enforcement starting June 30, but municipalities will continue to issue vehicle registrations," explaining that some municipalities will issue them with updated fees, while others will use existing fees. She stressed that all drivers must possess a valid vehicle registration.
However, Nelson Peralta, Director of Opaci, recently requested that the Traffic Police temporarily defer penalties for drivers, considering the time it took for the law to be passed and regulations to be established. He expressed concern that many citizens might not complete their registration by June 30 due to system chaos. Opaci's position is that since the unified system was introduced recently, citizens should be given sufficient time to adapt to the new regulations and complete their registration.
Director Medina mentioned that some municipalities, such as Fernando de la Mora and San Lorenzo, are already applying the new fee structure, and several rural municipalities are also in the process of renewal. She predicted that by June 30, only a very small number of municipalities would retain their old fees.
The National Traffic and Transit Agency urged citizens to complete their vehicle registration renewal as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary problems. The Traffic Police and local municipal traffic police (PMT) will strictly enforce regulations against vehicles operating without necessary documents, such as driver's licenses and vehicle registrations. Director Medina emphasized, "Drivers must always carry the necessary documents; without these, they cannot drive on national roads or even local roads," urging citizens to be cautious.
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