Pensioners pay over 200 KM for driver's license renewal in ten years, appeal to the Council of Ministers to adopt new Rulebook

(Patria) - Member of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Saša Magazinović, appealed to the Council of Ministers to adopt lower fees for driver's license renewals for pensioners in order to correct an injustice, as these people pay a multiple higher price for driver's license renewal than other drivers.

A driver's license is issued for a period of 10 years, and the renewal fee is 60 KM. However, according to the law, older drivers have their document validity period reduced to 3 years, while drivers with reduced health capacity must renew their driver's license in some situations every 2 years, and pay the fee and undergo a medical examination each time. This means that the fee for driver's license renewal for healthy young and middle-aged drivers is 60 KM for a 10-year period, while for the same license validity period, pensioners pay 200 KM, and drivers with reduced health capacity pay up to 300 KM. If the costs of medical examinations are added to this, it becomes a significantly higher amount and an extremely large difference in costs.

On January 23rd last year, the House of Representatives adopted Magazinović's initiative, which aims to abolish the discrimination whereby older drivers pay over 3 times the fee for extending their driver's license, while drivers with reduced health capacity pay up to 5 times more compared to other drivers within the same time period.

Following the adopted initiative, IDDEEA began its implementation by drafting a Rulebook that went through public consultations, during which no suggestions or comments were submitted. The next step is for this Rulebook to be adopted by the Council of Ministers of BiH. Considering the information that there is no support from the Minister of Finance of BiH, Srđan Amidžić, for the removal of this discrimination, Magazinović sent a question asking for the minister's statement on this issue. No answer has been received to date.

Abolishing this type of discrimination against older drivers and drivers with reduced health capacity would be fair to over 170,000 individuals aged 65 and over who possess a valid driver's license, as well as to numerous other drivers who, for various reasons, must renew their driver's license more frequently than most.

On this occasion, Magazinović emphasized that European standards in the field of preventing discrimination stipulate that older citizens and citizens with health problems should have the right to adjustments that take into account their specific needs, as well as their limited financial capabilities.

"In the case of BiH, not only are pensioners and persons with reduced health capacity not in a privileged position, but they are practically penalized by being obliged to pay a multiple higher fee for a driver's license for the same period. The injustice must be corrected in such a way that pensioners pay the same amount for a 10-year driver's license, not a multiple higher amount compared to younger drivers. We are only separated from the abolition of this discrimination by a vote of the Council of Ministers of BiH," stated Magazinović.