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Thursday, 21 January 2010 |
BY KRISTA HAYES
Staff Writer
A vice president with the Ohio Insurance Institute is reminding local residents that new late fees are now in place for motor vehicle operator’s license and vehicle plate renewals.
New Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicle (BMV) requirements call for transactions to be completed within seven days of the expiration date or be accessed $20 per transaction.
“This means that if you have two cars that require plate renewals and a driver’s license that also needs renewed, you’ll be charged an additional $60 if your plates and license aren’t renewed within seven days following your birthday,” Ohio Insurance Institute Public Information Senior Vice President Mary Bonelli said.
To avoid late charges, Bonelli advises Ohio motorists to renew plates and their motor vehicle operator’s licenses on or before their birthday.
Ohio Revised Code states a motor vehicle operator’s license can be renewed anytime prior to its expiration date but cannot be renewed online. Registrations can also be renewed up to 90 days prior to expiration.
“Since 1989, the BMV established a driver’s birthday as the cut-off date for most to renew plates and licenses in order to remain in compliance with the law,” Bureau of Motor Vehicles Public Information Officer Lindsey Wayt Bohrer said. “Previously, renewing either tags or licenses after their birth date did not carry late fee charges. The new BMV regulation now provides a seven-day window before assessing for late renewals.”
Since going into effective Oct. 1, Bohrer said the change in regulation came out of House Bill 2 pertaining to Ohio’s transportation budget, with other fee increases applied as well.
Vision screening fees saw an increase of $1.75, while a temporary tag fee was raised to $8. Registration for personalized license or initial reserve license plates were also both raised to $15, along with the $20 late fee for license and plate renewals.
“Even today, we are still getting a lot of calls from Ohio motorists who are unaware of the new BMV regulation,” Bohrer said. “We expect to continue to get calls not only well into this year, but for the next two years as well, especially from those who renew their license or plates on a bi-anual basis.”
In an effort to inform the public on the new regulation, Bohrer said the BMV has taken many steps to disclose the important information. In September, the BMV issued a press release to all deputy registrar offices in Ohio.
“We also added the information to our Web site page and sent out posters to every Ohio deputy registrar to display in their offices,” Bohrer said. “We had to take into consideration that many people don’t normally pay attention to these type of things until it applies to them.”
Locally, BMV Deputy Registrar Agency for Auglaize County Laura Kelley said the word is starting to spread in the area with regards to the new regulation.
“The word is starting to get out there, mostly by an e-mail where a customer got mad and was sounding off about the new regulation, falsely claiming that motorists had their entire birth date month to renew their license and tags, which was never so,” Kelley said. “With this economy, I understand people’s concerns about the late fees, but my hands are tied when it comes to advertising any new information, which I’m really not allowed to anyways.
“All we can do here at the deputy registrar office when people come in to renew their license or tags and thenn decide to hold off on others, is to inform them of what’s happening, and that they can only go so long before its too late and they’re stuck paying a late fee,” she said.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 22 January 2010 )
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