Finnish regional daily Aamulehti on Monday quoted the transport ministry as saying it was drafting a bill to authorise garages to provide roadworthiness inspection services in an effort to lower prices.

Under current legislation the same facility is not allowed to both service and inspect road vehicles.

Anneli Tanttu, the head of the ministry's transport safety unit, told the paper that the rate of increase in inspection fees had outpaced inflation.

Fees have risen many-fold since the government privatised roadworthiness inspections in the mid-1990s.

STT