Many Expats and Ecuadorians No Longer Allowed to Drive Their Vehicles

Last activity 10 April 2022 by cccmedia

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cccmediaEcuador / Colombia Expert01 April 2022 01:54:00

10279

This is no April Fool's joke. Motorists, possibly thousands of them, are losing their Ecuador driving privileges tonight as of 12:01 a.m., April 1, 2022.

Due to hacking of the ANT website (Agencia Nacional de Tránsito) over the past two years, ANT twice delayed the deadline for renewal of Ecuador drivers licenses. The second and possibly final deadline to renew a license was today, the 31st of March. However, in my case and presumably many others', the ANT website is not enabling motorists to schedule the requisite appointment to obtain the license renewal.

I paid the renewal fee ($34 for my license) at Banco Pacífico on March 10th. Since then I have attempted without success to schedule a renewal appointment using the online ANT system.

I was planning to continue driving, keeping proof of renewal payment in my glove compartment.

However, my Quito attorney, Sebastian Cordero, is counseling me not to drive my car. Supposedly, ANT claims that drivers have had enough time to obtain an appointment and renew their licenses.

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I do not know what the penalty is for driving without a valid Ecuadorian license. You can be sure, however, that an Expat would be in hot water if involved in a motor vehicle accident .. and found to be without a valid license.

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If anyone reading this post has successfully obtained a drivers-license renewal via ANT this year, your commentary 'al respecto' would be much appreciated.

ccccmedia in Quito

Guest6852Guest01 April 2022 12:05:59

214245

@cccmedia My ecuadorian wife had alot of trouble. There were some outstanding tickets on our car that we had no notification of. We tried for 8 months to pay these. We live in Riobamba and when going to pay, the local (Ambato) ones were the only ones that showed up on the system. These were all automated radar tickets. About 6 I think, about $500 total. Some were in Guayaquil when she visits her family. But we could not pay those here because they didn't show on the local system. We didn't know how to pay them and no license renewal until we did. Ultimately, she knows a driver's license facilitator and hired him to help us clear the tickets. I think he in Guayaquil. During all this she would periodically get appointments and print them out to keep in the car. As you mention, often the online system didn't work. For a time, maybe 2 months earlier this year, she had no appointment. It worried me (gringo) more than her (ecuadoriana) haha, such is the culture. I kept pressing her. In the end, somehow things worked along with the help of the facilitator. I feel our problem was in part due to no mail service here. I think she recieved emails from ANT that got bumped into spam or something and being the tickets came from a machine, we didn’t know about them. We didn’t even know if we had been in these different places because some were over a year old. Almost a year of struggle and worry. We wanted to pay the fines, interest continued to build and the system here is so screwed up we couldn't pay. Ecuador is extremely beauocracy heavy, but the country has no orderly way to handle the complexity they have created. Not just in this case, but many other things as well. Frustrating is an understatement.

cccmediaEcuador / Colombia Expert07 April 2022 01:56:06

10279

I'm going back on the roads.

I just managed to get a September appointment at ANT to renew my license. The ANT website showed appointments 'dispensable(s)' -- available -- for most times in September.. I did not check all other months. According to an editor at Cuenca High Life in a private email to me, he was unable to get an appointment in the next couple of months and booked one for late May. I expect to be traveling in June and July, so that's why I looked for something in September.

Meantime, I am going back to driving on the roads immediately, based on an ANT advisory that a friend showed me on his I-phone tonight.

By carrying a copy showing the appointment date and time, motorists apparently have the new documentation they need to avoid a fine and demerits if stopped by police or a transit agent.

This is not legal advice. YMMV.

cccmedia in Quito

cccmediaEcuador / Colombia Expert07 April 2022 08:07:50

10279

Why ANT is allowing motorists to drive on expired licenses for years.

My September renewal appointment will take place nine days shy of two years since my drivers license expired. I will have had the right to keep motoring in Ecuador for 24 months on an expired license.

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So why is ANT allowing yet another six months or more to go by without requiring that licenses be renewed?

The obvious reason is that ANT does not have the staff to process renewals to cover everyone whose license has expired in the past couple of years.

The agency was probably bombarded with complaints from motorists who could not comply with the March 31, 2022, deadline because sufficient renewal appointments could not be staffed to meet demand.

FYI, the advisory ANT sent out this week does not specify a date certain for renewals. In theory, this gives ANT the flexibility to hire and train enough staff to process renewals; however, more and more licenses come up for renewals every week.

Once a renewal appointment is made, ANT's policy is that the date or time cannot be changed online, only in person.

cccmedia

cccmediaEcuador / Colombia Expert10 April 2022 06:42:52

10279

Pre-requisites for renewals.

At the renewal appointment, the driver is to bring his hearing aid if any .. and his glasses if used for driving* .. or any other device he/she may rely upon in order to drive a vehicle successfully.

In my case, when I first applied for a drivers license almost seven years ago, it was determined that I needed to obtain a[n] (expensive) hearing aid. IMO the only sounds I didn't hear clearly are ones that are audible only to caninos. I will have to have the thing calibrated and charged during the week before my September appointment so I can pass a hearing test and show the ANT staff a working device at the subsequent appointment.

cccmedia

*Source: ANT printed confirmation of renewal appointment.

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