Cancún’s Vehicle Registration Process Plagued by Delays and Errors

Cancún, Quintana Roo — Long lines and endless waiting times under the unbearable sun continue for hundreds of citizens who keep attending the revenue collection and vehicle registration modules but fail to complete their procedures.

The digital platforms to complete their State Taxpayer Registry (REC) present errors such as the image of their INE credential not being valid. At the modules, it is even recorded that, because payments made through banks are not reflected, it will not be possible to deliver the license plates; citizens showed their anger at having wasted the entire morning in vain.

Among the revenue collection and vehicle registration modules of the SATQ, at the facilities of Supermanzana 510 on Av. Chac Mool, Mr. Gabriel mentioned that after a week, having started his procedure on Friday, January 2, losing entire mornings standing in line and even risking losing his job by being absent for two days to dedicate himself to the procedure, he was able to obtain his license plates, circulation card, and the rest of the issued documentation.

“It is an abuse and a lack of consideration the exaggerated amount of requirements that are requested… If the intention of making it digital was to speed it up, they did the opposite. I lost many days here making long lines and was even at risk of losing my job due to the absences,” said Gabriel, with satisfaction but also anger at his process that cost him many hours of the week.

At this same module, a state government official came out of the offices to walk along the long line of citizens who had arrived since the morning, but to inform them that their procedure could no longer be carried out because those who made their payment through banks would see it reflected in three to five days, so there was no point in continuing to sunbathe under the sun. Finally, with an expression of weariness, people began to leave.

Each citizen has a different experience completing their procedure on the digital platform to obtain their State Taxpayer Registry (REC), because there are cases where the platform rejects the image of their INE, the e.signature, or some document that leaves them “stuck” halfway through the digital procedure, leading to stress at not being able to complete it.

When arriving at the modules around the city, citizens report that on rare occasions do officials help them or they also appear puzzled by the error of the web portal.

There are also citizens who were lucky and the bureaucracy showed benevolence toward them, such as the case of the young man Kevin who finished all his procedure in a single morning, arriving from 8:00 a.m. with his documentation obtained from the web portal, mentioning that he did not have major complications.

He spent approximately just over two hours standing in lines at the SATQ’s intelligent cashier at the state government building on Av. Tulum in Supermanzana 2 to make his payment and then to receive his new license plate.

“The process was indeed time-consuming, since you cannot have a full morning available to do procedures, but fortunately the system became simple for me, but I do understand the frustration of people who suffered from the system crash in the first days. It could even be a matter of luck with these procedures,” said Kevin, while he was about to enter the service modules.

It is worth mentioning and remembering that the costs for these procedures are $1,527 plus $141 pesos (circulation card) for cars, vans, and buses. Motorcycles at $509 plus $141 pesos and trailers at $707 plus $141 pesos.

In this way, among lost time, anger, and weariness at not being able to finish their procedure, citizens continue their ordeal in search of obtaining their new license plates. While only some show a positive comment about the procedure, thanks to the bureaucracy showing “mercy” to some citizens, making the procedure truly fast.