The Board of Directors of the International Registration Plan has found Oklahoma provisionally out of compliance with certain IRP rules and ordered a peer review of its procedures.

The action follows complaints by the Illinois Secretary of State that Oklahoma is allowing first-time applicants to submit estimates that favor low-fee states at the expense of states that charge higher registration fees.
Under the IRP, carriers register in their home or base state and file quarterly mileage reports to that state. Fees are then apportioned according to actual mileage in each jurisdiction. New carriers are allowed to estimate mileage for the first year. Most states also allow owner-operators to estimate mileage their first year if they’re switching from carrier registration to their own plates.
In theory, the base state shouldn’t matter since fees are apportioned by mileage, but some states have complained that Oklahoma’s lax procedures attract third party licensing agents who set up Oklahoma addresses for their clients. They then pack first year estimates with mileage in low-fee states and show only minimal mileage in high-fee states.
Illinois’ Chief Audit Administrator Randy Leuschke says they have looked at estimates of Illinois carriers who have moved their IRP base to Oklahoma and found many to contain "blatant lies," which Oklahoma has missed or ignored.
An IRP dispute resolution committee last year authorized joint audits of Oklahoma files, but Leuschke says registration officials there haven’t been cooperative. The peer review ordered by the IRP board will focus on two areas: carrier established place of business and estimated miles.
Illinois has also proposed to tighten the rules by giving first-time registrants two choices: divide fees equally among all states traveled, or allow any jurisdiction to audit their estimate within the first 270 days of operation.