The Courts in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria have imposed a fine of 540 euro on a 33-year old woman who changed the ITV sticker on her vehicle so as to pretend that her car had successfully passed the mandatory test.
The case has taken two years to get to court and was brought about after two local police officers from Las Palmas attended an incident in the El Lasso area. A vehicle check indicated that one of the cars had not undertaken a successful ITV test, and had not been considered roadworthy for some months, despite the vehicle displaying a sticker in the windscreen.
The officers submitted a report for proceedings of a crime of forgery of public documents.
Once the case reached the courts the judge considered the evidence sufficient to prove that a fraudulent act had taken place and therefore condemned the vehicle owner to pay the 540 euro fine over a period of two months.
It is a mandatory requirement for vehicles which have reached the statutory age to display an ITV sticker in the windscreen, which is colour coded in accordance with the year of expiry and contains the expiry date.
Only one ITV sticker should be displayed at any one time and so once the next test has been passed and a new sticker issued, the previous one should be removed. The sticker should also be placed in the top right hand side of the windscreen (as you look out), so that officers looking out for it will be able to see the data quicker and are less likely to have to force you to stop whilst they check the details.
It is also mandatory to carry the ITV card and report with you in the vehicle as one of the documents you must carry in the car, along with the Permiso de Circulacion.