The Senate last night approved legislation ending a vehicle licence fee exemption for seniors, despite multiple attempts by the Opposition to change the legislation.During a debate in the Upper Chamber, Senator Marc Daniels tabled three potential amendments to the legislation, all of which were voted down by Government senators.The Motor Car Amendment Act 2013, set to come into effect on April 1, increases the cost of vehicle licence fees by three percent.It also rescinds an exception for senior citizens, allowing them to licence their vehicles for free. Instead, seniors will receive a discount of 50 percent.The exemption was put in place in 2007 by the Progressive Labour Party Government, but the ruling One Bermuda Alliance has said the policy was a mistake, costing the government $3.5 million in lost revenue every year.It has also reportedly been exploited, with the number of Class H cars being registered to seniors rising by 358 percent.Government originally planned to modify the exemption so that it would only apply for smaller vehicles, but chose to eliminate it for all classes of car after hearing concerns the partial elimination could be seen as discriminatory.Senator Daniels yesterday expressed several concerns about the legislation, saying that the way it had been unveiled had led to confusion.He suggested that the amendment be modified so that the exemptions would end next year rather than next month to allow seniors more time to prepare for the financial impact, saying: “No one knew this was coming.”Sen Daniels also noted that in the House of Assembly, Attorney General Mark Pettingill had stated that in error that the legislation included a way for seniors facing financial hardship to apply to the Minister for an exemption.While Mr Pettingill later released a statement clarifying there was no available exemption for financial hardship, Sen Daniels said such a measure should be included.“It costs you nothing to allow the seniors to make an application for that excerption,” he said.He further suggested that, even if Government were not willing to back down on ending the exemption, that they might lower the rate paid by seniors to 25 percent rather than 50 percent.The senator tabled three potential amendments to the legislation, which would implement his suggestions, but all three were voted down.Senator Michael Fahy said that the decision to end the exemption was a difficult, but that difficult choices had to be made to get the Island’s financial situation in order.“We are just going to have to deal with that unfortunately,” he said. “That’s just the way it’s going to have to be for a while.”