Inset - Mubarak Bueida, Executive Director at Aldaman Center. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: Doing paperwork is a nightmare in Kuwait. Renewing the inspection permit of a vehicle can be one of the easier things to accomplish but it still requires time and a bit of foreknowledge.

To renew the car license you need first to renew the car insurance, then pass the technical inspection of the vehicle. This is a must and if you have any violations, the vehicle will not be approved. Before heading to the technical inspection site, vehicle owners should fix any problems or faults.

Kuwait now has both public and private vehicle inspection options. In both places, you can pay any traffic fines, have your vehicle inspected and if passed, receive the renewed vehicle license (not to be confused with a 'driver's license, which has an entirely different set of restrictions).

After fixing any faults or removing the violations of the vehicle and passing the technical checking, the driver should issue the license from the traffic department. Thus this won't be done if the he had any traffic fines, so these should be paid first, and only then he will issue the car license.

Kuwait Times visited one of the local private vehicle inspection firms to learn more about the process. Mubarak Bueida, Executive Director at Aldaman Center spoke about their work, services, and some violations.

"Our center is authorized by the Ministry of Interior to do the technical inspection of vehicles, as it's done by the staff of the Ministry. They apply the same rules, so they don't break the law, thus are not over-strict such as some inspectors at some public departments," Bueida told the Kuwait Times.

Smoke and mirrors

Smoke is the most common violation due to which a vehicle might fail an inspection "The public technical inspection departments doesn't allow any vehicle producing even a very small amount of smoke to pass. But at our center, we have a machine that measures the exact amount of smoke a car produces. So if the smoke is below the limit, the vehicle will pass," added Bueida.

Tinted glass beyond regulations, cracked windshields, missing or broken side mirrors, turn signals that don't work, scratched or dented body work, loud carburetors are some of the more common violations that will prevent a vehicle from passing inspection.

The center can also fix any violations. "If the vehicle includes some violations that won't allow it to pass such as scratches on the paint, loud noise of the exhaust, or others, we can fix these violations and make the vehicle ready to pass. If the work was simple we don't even charge the client," he noted.

Sometimes the violation is done on purpose by the client such as windows tinted darker than is allowed or stickers on the vehicle, or some modifications on the engine. "In these cases we ask the client first if he would like us to fix this for him, otherwise we give him a period of one month to fix it himself and then come to do the inspection again, without paying any new fees. We accept any client with any vehicle, thus we are not allowed to do the technical checking of a vehicle that went to the checking in the technical department and didn't pass. This vehicle should finish the procedure in the same place after fixing the violations," explained Bueida.

All at the same time

"Starting from the insurance, paying fines, getting the technical checking, and finally issuing the license, this is all done while the client waits. We also offer the VIP service, when the client even doesn't have to come personally and we bring his vehicle either with a driver or on a tow," he pointed out.