Car impounded in Peru? How to get it back from the depósito, who pays, and when it is declared abandoned

When your car can be sent to the depósito

Impoundment (internamiento) is a “preventive measure”: it is applied on the spot, before the offence is decided. Article 299(4) of the Reglamento Nacional de Tránsito lists the cases:

“a) Por la comisión de una infracción sobre la que expresamente recaiga esta medida en el Cuadro de Tipificación, Sanciones y Medidas Preventivas aplicables a las Infracciones al Tránsito Terrestre. b) Cuando se haya procedido a la retención de la licencia de conducir por los supuestos señalados en el presente reglamento. c) Cuando el conductor se fuga abandonando el vehículo. d) Cuando no se hayan superado las faltas o deficiencias que motivaron la medida preventiva de retención del vehículo dentro del plazo máximo de veinticuatro (24) horas. e) Cuando el conductor se niegue a ejecutar la medida preventiva de remoción del vehículo o no se encuentre presente al momento de la intervención.”

(In short: an offence whose listed penalty includes impoundment; when your licence has been retained; when the driver runs off and leaves the car; when a vehicle held on the spot has not had its problem fixed within 24 hours; or when the driver refuses to move the car, or is not there.)

Outside those cases it is not allowed. Article 300: “La autoridad competente no puede hacer uso de medidas preventivas en situaciones no contempladas expresamente en el presente Reglamento, bajo responsabilidad.” (The authority may not use preventive measures in situations the regulation does not expressly provide for, and is liable if it does.)

A common case is a crash with injuries, which has its own rules; see what to do after a car crash. Another is driving without a technical inspection; see vehicle technical inspection.

The tow truck and the entry record

If you do not move the car when told to, the regulation says “el efectivo de la Policía Nacional del Perú debe ordenar el traslado del vehículo a cuenta del propietario” (the police officer orders the vehicle moved at the owner’s expense). The tow is on you.

At the depósito there is a step that protects you:

“Al ingresar el vehículo en el depósito vehicular se debe levantar un Acta en la que se deje constancia del estado e inventario del vehículo entregándose copia al conductor, al efectivo de la Policía Nacional del Perú interviniente y al administrador del depósito vehicular, quien será responsable de preservar el vehículo en las condiciones que lo recibió.”

(A record of the car’s condition and contents must be drawn up on entry, with a copy for the driver, and the depósito manager must keep the car in the condition it arrived in.)

Ask for your copy. If things are missing or there is new damage when you collect the car, the acta is your evidence. Article 302 makes whoever runs the depósito responsible for the vehicle “en calidad de depositario, en tanto permanezca en sus instalaciones” (as legal custodian while it is on their premises), under the Civil Code rules on deposit.

What you pay, and when you get it back

Article 303: “El pago del derecho de permanencia de un vehículo en el DMV es de cargo del conductor o de su propietario, con la excepción prevista en el artículo 301.” (Storage is paid by the driver or the owner, except in the case in article 301. DMV is the regulation’s abbreviation for the depósito.)

The regulation does not set the storage or towing charge, and does not say storage is charged by the day. Ask the entity that runs the depósito for a written statement.

Article 301 says when impoundment ends:

“La medida preventiva de internamiento de un vehículo en el depósito vehicular culmina cuando, según la naturaleza de la falta o deficiencia que motivó la medida, se subsane o se supere la deficiencia que la motivó, cuando corresponda; y cuando se cancele la multa en los casos que de acuerdo con la norma, la sanción a imponer así lo prevea; los derechos por permanencia en el depósito vehicular y remolque del vehículo; o al vencimiento del plazo establecido.”

(It ends when the problem is fixed, where relevant, and the fine, where required, plus storage and towing are paid; or when the set period runs out.)

Two rules in the same article worth knowing:

• Paying is not admitting. “El pago de la multa no implica el reconocimiento de la infracción, pudiendo el infractor posteriormente presentar sus descargos y recursos conforme lo establecen las normas vigentes.” If you win, “se procederá a la devolución del pago de la multa efectuado” (the fine is refunded).
• If you are cleared, you do not pay the depósito. The vehicle is returned “sin costo alguno de internamiento y remolque” (with no impoundment or towing charge). That is the exception article 303 refers to.

If the car was impounded for lacking a technical inspection certificate, you can collect it once you show payment of the fine, storage and towing, and payment of the inspection. You then have twenty-four hours from the certificate being issued to present it, “bajo apercibimiento que la autoridad competente disponga la captura del vehículo” (or the authority may order the vehicle seized).

When it is declared abandoned

This is the part many people find out about too late. Since Decreto Legislativo 1594 (2023), article 5 of Decreto de Urgencia 019-2020 allows an abandonment procedure:

“Cuando el vehículo ingresó al depósito a consecuencia de una medida preventiva de internamiento, impuesta en el marco de un procedimiento administrativo sancionador en materia de transporte o tránsito terrestre, y su propietario no haya solicitado su retiro del depósito en el plazo de treinta (30) días hábiles contados a partir de la fecha en que la resolución de sanción quedó firme.”

(When the car entered under a preventive impoundment order and the owner has not asked for it back within thirty business days of the penalty decision becoming final.)

There is a second case: a car taken to the depósito as an attachment in coercive collection of a traffic or transport fine. There the thirty business days run from the date it was impounded. Literal b) of article 5.1 covers a vehicle that entered «a consecuencia de una medida de embargo en forma de secuestro conservativo, dictada en el marco de un procedimiento de ejecución coactiva» (as a result of an attachment by seizure ordered in a coercive collection procedure), when the owner did not ask for its release «en el plazo de treinta (30) días hábiles contados a partir de la fecha de internamiento del vehículo como consecuencia de la ejecución de la medida cautelar» (within thirty business days from the date the car was impounded under that measure).

Asking is not enough. For the request to be granted, “se requiere que el solicitante haya cancelado el monto adeudado, el cual incluye la multa, los derechos de permanencia en el depósito, gastos de remolque correspondientes” (you must have paid what you owe: the fine, storage and towing).

The procedure is set by D.S. 016-2021-MTC, amended by D.S. 014-2024-MTC:

Note one line in article 9: “El inicio del procedimiento de ejecución coactiva no interrumpe el plazo” (the start of coercive collection does not stop the clock). Being chased for the fine does not pause the abandonment deadline.

Scrapping or auction

Once the abandonment decision is final, article 8.5 of the regulation says it is “título suficiente para que la autoridad, pueda realizar el proceso de subasta, bajo los alcances de la Ley N° 26979, Ley de Procedimiento de Ejecución Coactiva, o someter el vehículo al proceso de chatarreo obligatorio, según corresponda” (enough for the authority to auction the vehicle under the coercive collection law, or send it to mandatory scrapping, as appropriate).

Article 5.4 of Decreto de Urgencia 019-2020 splits cars by age, counted from 1 January of the year after the model year:

• More than 15 years: scrapped as a rule.
• Up to 15 years: scrapped after an assessment of their economic value.

Not every car can go to mandatory scrapping. Article 12 of the regulation, in its 2024 text, excludes “los vehículos comprendidos en investigaciones policiales o judiciales” (vehicles in police or court investigations) and “los vehículos sujetos a cargas, gravámenes, medidas cautelares, u otros derechos inscritos a favor de terceros en el Registro de Propiedad Vehicular” (vehicles with liens, charges, court orders or other third-party rights on the register).

The notice goes to the details on Sunarp’s register. If you bought or sold a car and the transfer is not registered, see transferring a vehicle.

What this page does not cover

We give no storage or towing amounts: the regulation does not set them, and we did not review any depósito’s rates or the procedures of SAT Lima, ATU, Sutran or other municipalities. We did not review which offences carry impoundment in the table of infractions, or the table annexed to the abandonment regulation. We do not cover how to claim compensation from a depósito for damage, or how the auction works in coercive collection. To challenge the ticket itself, see traffic tickets.

Check your case

The Impounded car: steps and deadlines tool shows, based on why your vehicle was impounded and where the penalty stands, what you need to get it out and the periods before abandonment. It does not calculate the depósito charges, because the rules do not set them.