Saudi Arabia Decided To Charge An Annual Fee Considering The Fuel Efficiency Of Vehicles

Saudi Arabia, in conformity with the vehicle”s fuel efficiency, began applying an annual fee for the issuing and renewal of Vehicle Registration License (istimara) from Sunday onwards. And its value ranges between 0 and 190 riyals.

The first phase will be applied only to new light vehicles starting from model 2024. In the second phase, it plans to cover owners of all light and heavy vehicle and will come into existence in 2024. While calculating annual fee,  two indicators are considered: the first criterion is engine capacity for all light vehicles model 2015 and before and all heavy vehicles while the second criterion will be fuel efficiency for light vehicles model 2016 and later.

As per the fuel consumption efficiency, the fee has been divided into five levels and no fee will be charged for low-consumption vehicles.

It was in August 2021, Council of Ministers decided to charge an annual fee for the issuance and renewal of vehicle licenses. The government agencies are also participating in the application of the annual fee including the Ministry of Commerce; the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization; the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority; the General Traffic Department; the National Information Center, and the Saudi Energy Efficiency Center.

The national platform “My Vehicle” aims to provide entry to any data to the annual financial fees for vehicle driving licenses. The objective behind the decision is to promote a tendency towards owning more fuel-efficient vehicles, which in turn could result in minimising harmful emissions and thereby, preserving the environment and the Saudi Arabia”s natural resources. They added that economical vehicles with high fuel efficiency are spared from this fee.