YEREVAN, February 7, /ARKA/. Armenian parliament members refused today to put on their agenda a draft law motioned by the oppositional Heritage faction calling for cancellation of the mandatory car insurance enforced from January 1, 2011.

Armen Martirosian, a Heritage faction member, said 24% of car owners did not buy car insurances, having instead applied for a temporary exemption from the requirement allowed by the law. They will have to deposit their license plates with the road police and will be allowed to drive their cars for up to three months a year.

The mandatory insurance against physical damage caused to other cars and individuals became mandatory in the country on January 1, in accordance with a government-drafted law passed by the Armenian parliament last year.

According to the latest data, about 70% of some 430,000 or so vehicles registered in Armenia have been covered by insurance.

Stepan Safarian, head of the faction, suggested that the draft law be put on the agenda so that to conduct large-scale study. But the proposal was supported only by 21 lawmakers as 64 voted it down. -0-