Apostolos Tomaras
A government audit has uncovered a glitch in the Transport Department’s fee system that has been quietly overcharging drivers who renew their vehicle registrations late.
According to the Auditor General, the problem lies in TOMIS, the department’s software system. Under the law, anyone who misses the renewal deadline is supposed to pay a €10 penalty plus an extra 10% based on the period they’re renewing, whether that’s a year, six months, or three months.
But auditors found that TOMIS applies the 10% penalty only on the annual fee, no matter what the driver is actually renewing. In one example, a late annual fee of €193 was hit with an extra €9 that shouldn’t have been charged.
Multi-million-euro lawsuits over public transport funding
The audit also points to a much bigger headache: five public transport contractors have taken the state to court, demanding more than €59 million in additional payments for disputes dating back to 2010–2020.
These legal battles stem from disagreements over how government subsidies were calculated. The Auditor General noted that, despite the contracts expiring years ago, the Transport Department still can’t determine whether it owes contractors money or how much.
The report highlights broader issues in the public transport system, including:
- Poor implementation of performance monitoring
- Weak enforcement of penalties
- Errors in key indicators and compensation formulas
- Heavy reliance on unsecured Excel spreadsheets, increasing the chance of mistakes
Gaps in internal controls
The audit also flags weak internal controls across district transport offices, noting that several financial procedures are either ignored or only partially followed. These gaps, the Auditor General warned, raise doubts about the accuracy and legality of the revenue reported by the Transport Department in the state’s financial statements.
*Read it in Greek here.
