Oman transport: People advised to sell cars legally

Muscat: Nationals and residents are advised against displaying their vehicles in public areas for sale as they could face two separate fines which could cost them a fortune.
According to an order issued recently by Muscat Municipality, those who leave their vehicles for sale or for advertisement purposes in public parking areas (metered) and sidewalks will also be slapped a fine of OMR500.
However, the municipality fine is only applicable in areas subjected to parking meters and differs from the ROP fines.
The new traffic law, which will be implemented in a little over three weeks, also cited a fine for displaying public vehicles for sale.
Article 33 states “it is not allowed to neglect or leave vehicles or animals or anything on the street which could risk the lives of others or property or affect traffic flow or disturb it. It is also prohibited in any shape or form to display vehicles in public areas, or places that could affect the traffic flow and its safety. The Royal Oman Police will tow the vehicle in violation under the owner’s expense.”
Speaking to a senior official from the ROP, he said that the display is not of a civilised nature and that people should refrain from doing so. “It disturbs the public image and it really isn’t a great sight to see when you’re driving down the street. Many people can sell their cars in a used car shop or online, but they should keep their cars off of public areas,” said the official.
When asked whether the ROP are ready to confiscate the vehicles, he replied, “It is not a matter of us being ready or not, it is (going to be) the law and we will uphold it.”
The official said that people resort to displaying their vehicles in public because they could get a higher price for their cars than those offered from used car shop.
Advertising in newspapers, according to an expert in the field, is one of the few effective methods to sell used cars without having to display them in public.
A source from an advertising department said that this method is effective as people actively have their cars sold.
“We have a car section on the classifieds and a lot of people advertise their cars there. They usually cancel their advertisements only three days after they have posted them because their cars were sold,” said the source adding the advertising space for car ads cost between OMR10 to OMR15 per week and are more expensive as the ads are bigger.
“My advice to people is to keep their cars at home and either advertise their cars using legal methods or approach a used car sales shop,” said the source.
OLX, Oman’s most popular online shop, currently has 32,060 vehicles advertised on their website.
According to OLX, OLX Oman cars section saw enormous growth ultimately standing at a figure that reflected a 138% growth in the number of listings for cars in the period January to June 2016 as compared to the last six months of 2015 (July to December 2015). Each car
listed in this category generated an average of 23 inquiries.
Speaking with Al Muntasir Al Muqbali, General Manager of Al Salam Cars Showroom, he said that the display of vehicles in public areas is bad for the image of the community and added that foreign visitors could take wrongly to the culture.
“It isn’t fair to us nor the community. There should be order and organisation in which you sell your cars. These people are using the government and private properties to display their vehicles,” said Al Muqbali.
“People could get a better price from those (cars) displayed in public, but will they guarantee their safety and whether it is properly maintained?” he added.
He said that used car shops don’t mind people selling their cars on their own but there should be some organisation and order.
“People can advertise their cars on OLX, social media, newspapers and a lot of other mediums. It is also a safety hazard if people slow down on the street to take a look at the cars,” advises Al Muqbali.
He also advised that people should remove their cars unless they want to be fined by government authorities.
Those who send their cars to used car shops will have their cars maintained, cleaned and under constant surveillance until the right buyer comes along.