Yucatán Motorists Face Hefty Fees Under New Government

In every cycle of vehicle license plate renewal, political disagreements and unrealistic proposals often arise. This was evident during the recent six-year term of Governor Mauricio Vila Dosal, of the PAN party. His administration did not enforce the mandated vehicle re-plating periods, as stipulated by the State Traffic and Road Law, which requires re-plating every three years.

Vila Dosal suspended the mandatory plate exchange due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but continued to update vehicle records in Yucatán until the end of his term. Despite this, not all vehicles in the region were in compliance with the law.

The PAN administration twice postponed the vehicle re-plating in Yucatán. This was primarily due to the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, and also because of opposition from Morena, PRD, and PRI deputies in the LXII Legislature. As per decree 338/2020, the Vila government waived fees for online vehicle renewal and the 2021 circulation card, offered discounts on plates, fines, and exempted vehicle use tax.

Initially, re-plating was scheduled for March 2020, but was delayed due to the onset of the pandemic. The deadline was moved to February 2021, but was again postponed to August 2022 due to the region's economic downturn. As the economy had not fully recovered by this date, the deadline was extended once more to September 2022. Eventually, in 2023, the administration announced that re-plating would not take place.

The new government, led by Joaquín Díaz Mena of the Morena-PT-PVEM coalition, has scheduled the next vehicle plate exchange for 2025. This will cost motorists $1,464.75 for the metal plate and $300.50 for the circulation card, totalling $1,765.25. Through this plate exchange, the Morena government hopes to raise $659.9 million.