Taipei, Oct 6 (IANS): Taiwan's environmental protection agency said it would withdraw the emission qualification certificates for problematic cars belonging to German automaker Volkswagen, and urged the world's largest carmaker to compensate Taiwanese car owners.

According to the sales figures submitted by the company's Taiwan branch to the agency, a total of 17,744 Audi, Volkswagen, Volkswagen CV and Skoda cars sold in Taiwan are installed with the software that was designed to cheat emission tests, reported Xinhua.

The environmental authority has requested VW to recall its affected cars and make necessary modifications in three months.

It also said the cars did not have safety problems and were allowed on the road for the time being.

VW's Taiwan branch is still waiting for a solution package from its headquarters in Germany, but has said it would do its best to cooperate with the requests from the authorities.

In addition to the requested modifications, which should be covered by the carmaker, the agency is mulling over punishment including fines and sales restrictions.

Last month, Volkswagen was found to have fabricated software embedded in about 11 million diesel engines globally that is in operation when taking a pollution test to cheat on regulators.