JEDDAH: The Jeddah Police Department has formed a number of committees in collaboration with various authorities to monitor and implement new rules for car towing and impound lots.
The new regulations came into effect after noticing 23 unlicensed car-towing operations in Jeddah, leading the authorities to form a committee for studying and reorganizing this trade.
Some of the private impound lots were found to be unpaved and lacked adequate security, such as high fences and lighting to prevent theft, according to yesterday’s Al-Madinah newspaper.
Owners of unlicensed impound lots were given a three-month notice to abide by the new regulations, which will be required to obtain licensing for this type of business. The source said that the 15 new rules include that the impound lots must be located away from residential areas and shouldn’t be smaller than 10,000 square meters.
The lots must be paved and parked with delineated parking spots. The lots must also be easily identifiable so that vehicle owners can easily find their cars. These lots must also include 10 high power halogen lights similar to what’s used for streets. Five of these light posts should be in the middle area of the impound lots to ensure adequate and evenly dispersed lighting to deter theft.
Tow trucks must from now on have adequate communication equipment with the Traffic Police. Impound lots must also have a minimum of 10 tow trucks.
These operations must also have adequate computer networks linked with those of the authorities to make it easier for car owners to find their vehicles.
The licenses will be good for three years and will be issued with the approval of the Transportation Department, Ministry of Commerce, Civil Defense and the municipality.
The fees of transporting a vehicle to the detention yard inside the city should not exceed SR75 and SR100 if the vehicle was outside the city limits.
The vehicles detention fee from a day to a week should not exceed SR100, he said adding that the second week would cost an addition of SR25 and from two weeks to a month detention should not go beyond an addition of SR100.
