Redesign of the scrapping and renewal premium program for the vehicle fleet in Morocco

Recognizing that the dilapidated fleet hinders the improvement of the road transport sector, the Moroccan government started the vehicle renewal program in 2006 to modernize vehicles. The program provides incentives to encourage vehicle owners to replace their old vehicles with new ones. After the initial trial period of two years, the program was renewed in 2008, 2011, and 2014, targeting mainly freight vehicles. Incentives for scrapping old vehicles were added to the program in 2014. For the 2018-2020 period, the coverage of the program is extended to include group transport vehicles (excluding taxis and public buses), transport vehicles in rural areas, breakdown and rescue vehicles, and vehicles for driving school. However, it should be noted that the Ministry of Interior and METLE are currently in discussions over the potential inclusion of taxis for this program. The program now targets the renewal of 8,927 vehicles among 29,757 vehicles over 20 years old with an annual budget ceiling of 150 million dirhams. Not surprisingly the continuation of the 2018-2020 phase was put on hold until the program could be fully redesigned to ensure its effectiveness and sustainability by balancing stakeholder, economic, social, and environmental interests, despite a vested buy-in of the Ministry of Equipment, Transport, and Logistics and Water (METLE) for the program.