Seongnam-si, Intensive Crackdown on Overdue Vehicles

A Seongnam city enforcement officer is removing the license plate from a vehicle with unpaid fines.

[Asia Economy (Seongnam) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province will conduct an intensive crackdown on delinquent vehicles until December 14. The total amount of local tax arrears in Seongnam City is 39.6 billion KRW, of which 3.3 billion KRW, or 8.3%, is automobile tax arrears.

During this period, the city will organize three joint teams of 12 nighttime enforcement officers from the city and district offices every Tuesday from 7 to 10 p.m. to patrol city parking lots, apartment complexes, and residential areas to identify delinquent vehicles and remove their license plates.

The crackdown will utilize smartphone-based delinquency video inquiry devices and vehicle-mounted enforcement devices to recognize delinquent vehicles.

For vehicles with a first-time automobile tax delinquency, a notice of impending enforcement will be attached to the front windshield to encourage voluntary payment, while for those with two or more delinquencies, license plates will be removed without prior notice.

Vehicles confirmed to have habitual delinquency of three or more times and arrears exceeding 1 million KRW will be forcibly towed and auctioned off.

Vehicles with three or more delinquencies are subject to the local tax collection request system between local governments, which has been in effect since July 1 of this year. Regardless of the vehicle registration location, license plates can be removed by any local government nationwide, making road operation virtually impossible.

Removed license plates can only be returned after full payment of the delinquent amount. If caught driving without license plates, a fine of up to 1 million KRW will be imposed.

However, for livelihood-type delinquent taxpayers struggling due to COVID-19, enforcement actions will be deferred on the condition of installment payment compliance.

A city official stated, "License plate removal for delinquent vehicles is conducted regularly throughout the year," and urged, "Please voluntarily pay your delinquent taxes to avoid disadvantages from enforcement actions."