Motorists who fail to pay their traffic fines will have their driving license suspended if they don’t pay them in 90 days starting September 1, Romania’s government has announced.
Development Minister Cseke Attila said the Government adopted an emergency ordinance on Tuesday evening and the measure was part of government reforms.
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said the measure was taken because only 40% of traffic fines are paid.
“Regarding the suspension of permits… after the passage of a certain period of time, which are very well defined by the ordinance, if the traffic fine is not paid, it is communicated to the local authority, the local authority issues a payment summons, in which it warns the holder of a driving license that there is a possibility of suspension if he does not pay the traffic fine. And if at the end of this last period it does not happen,” then he license is suspended, Attila said.
If motorists get into this situation, their right to drive will be suspended’.
“My colleagues from the Interior Ministru have proposed that for every 50 lei fine, a suspension day should be applied and this mechanism is proposed to enter into force in six months, until we prepare these digital platforms, which will be interconnected,” he said.
Cseke said the mechanism will apply from September 1, adding the government had dropped a proposal to hike the price of unpaid fines by 60%.
“We have a situation in Romania in which only about 40% of traffic fines are paid, a very low percentage compared to other European countries. It was necessary to tighten this mechanism, so that, on the one hand, these fines are collected, it is an aspect of fairness for all citizens and, last but not least, we strengthen a certain discipline in the road traffic,” Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said.
