The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has released guidance on how to report an MOT tester or garage suspected of fraud.
To help protect the public against unsafe vehicles, people will be able to report a garage or tester if they believe MOT certificates are being given to vehicles which should have failed. It will also include vehicles which have not been tested, or certificates which have been issued for bribes or vehicles which have been failed unnecessarily to generate work.
The garage or tester could be banned from carrying out MOTs, fined or given a prison sentence, depending on how serious the offence is.
Within the last year, the DVSA has investigated 2,057 fraud reports which resulted in stopping 156 garages and 335 testers from testing.
The agency also undertakes other activities to check garages are operating within the law, including site visits, vehicle inspections, mystery shopper exercises and covert surveillance by specialist teams.
DVSA Director of Enforcement, Marian Kitson, said: “DVSA is committed to protecting everyone from unsafe drivers and vehicles.
“Although most garage owners and MOT testers follow the rules and work within legitimately run businesses, there are still those who try to cheat the system.
“MOT fraud effectively allows unsafe vehicles on the road, so we’ll come down hard on the perpetrators to protect the public and integrity of the MOT.”
