Older people should be protected from NCT scams

Cllr Paddy O'Rourke asked Leitrim County Council to contact Applus+ and the Road Safety Authority with a view to having them review and reverse their decision to discontinue accepting cash payments for NCT appointments
Speaking at last Monday's meeting of Leitrim County Council, he stated that the policy decision is going to “severely impact older persons and the elderly and place them in a situation where they could be taken advantage of by devious persons purporting to help them make NCT appointments.”
Cllr O'Rourke continued that they “don't have the facilities to book online and make payments online, etc.”
NCT operators Applus+ said it would soon accept only electronic payments, bank drafts or postal orders, starting in coming months and said the safety and convenience of customers was behind the move and it was prompted by a high level of no-shows at test centres, however Cllr O'Rourke suggested that a charge could be made “retrospectively, rather than introducing this because it's a lazy way to do it.”
Cllr O'Rourke noted that Applus+ has been fined €3m for failing to clear the testing backlog that has seen motorists forced to wait months to get their cars tested adding “they should be told that they need to do a job to suit the citizens of the country.”
He said he was aware of someone who “entrusted their credit card details to an individual in order to make a booking and it didn't end well for them and only other people stepped in, it could have been worse.”
Cllr Mary Bohan seconded the motion saying “no one has the right to demand a credit card if someone wants to pay cash.”