(a) A motor vehicle registration issued pursuant to this chapter shall expire in accordance with schedules established by the commissioner. If the expiration date of the registration of the motor vehicle, except the registration of a motor vehicle used to transport passengers for hire, falls on any day when offices of the commissioner are closed for business, the registration shall be deemed valid for the operation of the motor vehicle until midnight of the next day on which offices of the commissioner are open for business. The commissioner shall prescribe the date and manner of renewing registrations. Not less than thirty days prior to the expiration of any valid registration, the department shall send or transmit, in such manner as the commissioner determines, an application for renewal to the registrant. In the case of a motor vehicle registered to a leasing company licensed pursuant to section 14-15, the department may send or transmit, in such manner as the commissioner determines, an application for renewal of a leased vehicle to the lessee of such vehicle. The commissioner shall not be required to send or transmit a registrant's or lessee's application by mail if the United States Postal Service has determined that mail is undeliverable to such person at the address for such person that is in the records of the department. Except for the processing of such application at an official emissions inspection station as provided in subsection (b) of this section or by telephone as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the commissioner may require that the application be returned electronically or by mail in order to be processed and approved, with only such exceptions, on a hardship basis, as shall be established by the commissioner in regulations adopted pursuant to chapter 54.

(b) The commissioner may provide for the renewal of passenger registrations at official emissions inspection stations established pursuant to chapter 246a in accordance with schedules established by him which shall provide that expirations of registrations and emissions stickers occur on the same date. The commissioner may employ the services of the independent contractor which operates the system of official emissions inspection stations to process such applications for renewal in accordance with standards and procedures established by the commissioner.

(c) The commissioner may provide for the renewal of the registration of any motor vehicle by means of a telephone request and order by the registrant. The commissioner may charge a service fee of five dollars, in addition to the fee prescribed for the renewal of the registration, for each application for renewal processed by telephone. Such service fee shall be used to cover the costs incurred in processing such applications. Any funds in excess of those necessary for the processing of such applications shall be deposited in the General Fund. Each registrant who elects to renew by telephone shall sign the certificate of registration, attesting to the information contained therein under penalty of false statement, as provided in section 53a-157b, when the certificate is issued by the commissioner. Any such certificate which is not signed shall be void. The commissioner may employ the services of an independent contractor or contractors to process such applications for renewal and provide any equipment or system necessary for such purpose.

(d) If the adoption of a staggered system results in the expiration of any registration more than two years from its issuance, a prorated amount of the registration fee paid shall be charged in addition to the biennial fee.

(1949 Rev., S. 2367; 1955, S. 1292d; November, 1955, S. N163; 1957, P.A. 255; 1959, P.A. 657, S. 2; 1961, P.A. 233, S. 4; 286; February, 1965, P.A. 561; 1971, P.A. 522; P.A. 73-101; P.A. 76-338, S. 2, 8; P.A. 77-343, S. 3, 5; P.A. 80-466, S. 8, 9, 25; P.A. 84-429, S. 12; P.A. 85-115; 85-613, S. 135, 154; P.A. 87-329, S. 22, 23; P.A. 90-263, S. 45, 74; P.A. 92-156, S. 1, 7; P.A. 93-341, S. 4, 38; P.A. 95-260, S. 7, 24; P.A. 10-110, S. 5; P.A. 11-213, S. 9; P.A. 18-164, S. 21.)

History: 1959 act changed expiration of registrations from uniform date to staggered system; 1961 acts added Subsec. (b) and made technical changes in Subsec. (a); 1965 act added end-of-month requirement to expiration schedules; 1971 act added proviso in Subsec. (a) continuing registrations which expire on Saturday, Sunday or holiday to next open business day of state offices; P.A. 73-101 clarified proviso by replacing reference to weekends and holidays with “any day when offices of the commissioner are closed for business” and replacing reference to next open day of state offices with next open day of “offices of the commissioner”, reflecting fact that motor vehicles offices maintain different operating schedule; P.A. 76-338 replaced “July” with “August” and “August” with “September” in Subsec. (b) and added Subsec. (c) re property tax validation; P.A. 77-343 deleted Subsec. (c); P.A. 80-466 amended Subsec. (a) to include reference to single plate and to biennial rather than annual registrations; P.A. 84-429 rephrased provisions and made other technical changes; P.A. 85-115 amended Subsec. (b), providing that a service bus registration issued before September first is valid August fifteenth or the date of issue, whichever is later; P.A. 85-613 changed effective date of P.A. 85-115 from October 1, 1985, to July 1, 1985; P.A. 87-329 amended Subsec. (a) to permit motor vehicle registrations to expire on the fifteenth day of the month indicated on the sticker, effective July 1, 1988; P.A. 90-263 amended Subsec. (a) to substitute phrase motor vehicle used to transport passengers for hire for public service motor vehicle; P.A. 92-156 amended Subsec. (a) to eliminate requirement that schedules established by the commissioner provide that expirations occur on fifteenth or last day of month indicated on sticker, to require renewal applications to be mailed not less than 45 days prior to expiration, to permit commissioner to require that applications be returned by mail, with exceptions based on hardship established in regulations, and to authorize commissioner to provide for registration renewal at emissions inspection stations; P.A. 93-341 deleted Subsec. (b) re expiration and issuance dates for service buses, amending Subsec. (a) to delete reference to Subsec. (b), effective July 1, 1994; P.A. 95-260 divided the section into Subsecs., amended Subsec. (a) to add an exception to return of renewal application by mail for processing of such application at an emissions inspection station or by telephone, amended Subsec. (b) to make technical changes and to allow commissioner to employ the services of the independent contractor which operates emissions inspection stations to process applications for passenger registration renewal in accordance with established procedures and inserted new language as Subsec. (c) allowing commissioner to provide for renewal of registration of any motor vehicle by telephone request and order and to charge service fee of $5 for such renewal and specifying administrative procedures for such renewal, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 10-110 amended Subsec. (a) to authorize department to mail renewal application to lessee of leased vehicle registered to leasing company and make a technical change, effective July 1, 2010; P.A. 11-213 amended Subsec. (a) to replace provisions re mailing of renewal applications with provisions re sending or transmittal of renewal applications in such manner as commissioner determines, authorize electronic return requirement and exempt commissioner from sending application by mail if mail is undeliverable, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 18-164 amended Subsec. (a) to decrease amount of time renewal applications to be mailed prior to expiration from not less than 45 days to not less than 30 days, effective July 1, 2018.