BOSTON — Vehicle inspections will resume at most Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles locations on Saturday, the state agency announced Friday.
“Applus Technologies, a vendor that facilitates vehicle inspections in Massachusetts and several other states, experienced a malware attack in several states on Tuesday, March 30, 2021, preventing vehicle inspection stations from conducting vehicle inspections,” the RMV said in a statement. “Inspections will resume at most inspection stations at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 17, 2021. Some inspection stations are experiencing more complex technological issues, and Applus will continue to work to resolve these issues so that inspection services can be restored as soon as possible.”
Under the contract, Applus must compensate inspection station owners for each day that workstations were not operational during defined business hours.
“The Commonwealth fully expects Applus to compensate the inspection station owners for the prolonged outages, as well as additional compensations to those stations which are unable to begin conducting inspections on Saturday, April 17,” the RMV said. “Applus assumes full responsibility for restoring systems as rapidly as possible.”
The RMV is extending a grace period for specific motor vehicle inspection requirements. The requirements are outlined below and include an extension which now allows vehicle owners with expired March 2021 and April 2021 inspections stickers to have through May 31, 2021 to obtain inspections.
“The RMV is working in close partnership with the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, the Massachusetts State Police and other stakeholders to mitigate the impacts of the outage,” the RMV said.
The RMV has advised law enforcement that compliance with the safety/emissions inspection requirement has not been possible since March 30, in light of the outage caused by the malware attack against Applus.
- Motor vehicles with expired inspection stickers from March 2021 (“3” sticker on windshield) and April 2021 (“4” sticker on windshield) are extended until May 31, 2021, to obtain an inspection.
- Newly purchased vehicles registered on or after Tuesday, March 23, 2021, should be granted until April 30, 2021, to obtain an inspection. Newly purchased vehicles must typically be inspected within seven (7) days of registration.
- Customers who recently had an inspection rejection and are in the 60-day free retest window will be afforded one extra day for each day Applus’s system remains unavailable but should plan to facilitate their inspection as soon as possible once the system is restored and stations are online.
Historically, motor vehicle inspections average approximately 15,000 per day, with as many as 20,000+ inspections being conducted on the first two days of the month and the last two days of the month. The RMV estimates that there are approximately 30,000 March stickers and 160,000 April stickers that require an inspection.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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