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B.C. moves to eliminate annual licence plate decals

If passed, Bill 20 will offer “flexibility” to decals, extending them beyond their one-year expiry date or even making them non-expiring.
An example of a licence plate decal someone tried to forge back in September. If Bill 20 passes, the
An example of a hand-written licence plate decal someone tried to pass back in September. If Bill 20 passes, the validation decals could become non-expiring.

The B.C. government has introduced a bill that would extend licence plate decals beyond their usual one-year expiry date.

If passed, Bill 20 will offer “flexibility” to the validation decals so that they could also be non-expiring. ICBC could also be given the power to issue other kinds of documents to prove a vehicle is properly registered, according to a press release.

The proposed law is the latest move from the province to give drivers a reprieve from their annual trip to an insurance office and to move many of those services online.  

But the delivery of decals remains a challenge, according to Attorney-General David Eby, the minister responsible for ICBC, who added Monday that the system of insurance brokers across the province would remain in place for now.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March, ICBC has made it possible to renew insurance over the phone, and in now expired measures, had deferred payments for 90 days and has waived cancellation and re-plating fees for drivers looking to halt payments until they can afford to insure their car again.