The Regulatory Authority on Public Services (Spanish acronym: ARESEP) has summarily rejected a fee increase request tendered by the Spanish firm in charge of the mandatory technical revision of motor vehicles in Costa Rica. The firm Riteve SyC had requested a 200 percent increase that would have rocketed the fee to 30,000 colones (about $60) for the mandatory inspection of a passenger car in Costa Rica.

This is hardly the first time that the ARESEP has shut down Riteve on a fee increase; in fact, it is the sixth time it has done so. On previous occasions, Riteve has filed a formal administrative appeal, which the ARESEP and legal arbitrators have also rejected. According to a news story filed by Rebeca Madrigal of online news daily Costa Rica Hoy, a spokeswoman from ARESEP explained that the request was quickly rejected since it lacked the methodology required to justify a fee adjustment.

Riteve’s manager Fernando Mayorga was not surprised by the news and added:

About this methodology: The Transit Law promulgates ARESEP as being the entity that should be regulating fee adjustments as long as there is a competitive market, which is not the case now. Riteve is the only company offering this service.

In previous occasions, Riteve has ended up licking its wounds since it is acting as a monopoly that cannot exert its power due to the ARESEP’s position. It is a bureaucratic Catch-22 that Riteve is contractually unable to shake off and would require an amendment to one of the most complex and controversial laws in Costa Rica, that which regulates transit matters.

As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star:

[Riteve is a] mandatory, yet highly unpopular, revision [and is considered a bane for] many drivers and a windfall for auto mechanics.

To learn more about the current technical requirements that vehicles in Costa Rica must pass according to Riteve, please review the online manual (30284 of the Ministry of Transportation and Public Works).