Drivers Without Catalytic Converters to Face Fines of 300,000 to 1 Million Drams Under New Bill

Recent days have seen extensive discussions online regarding a proposed amendment to the Administrative Offenses Code of Armenia. The Ministry of Environment has presented for public discussion a new draft law which aims to penalize drivers operating vehicles without catalytic converters or with malfunctioning emission control systems. This is reported by Armdaily.am.

The draft proposes fines of 300,000 drams for individuals, and 500,000 drams for legal entities. Furthermore, if the same offense is committed within a year, individuals will face fines of 600,000 drams, while legal entities will incur penalties of 1,000,000 drams.

“If a vehicle is operated without an emission control system or with a malfunctioning system, harmful substances are released uncontrollably into the atmospheric air, which is extremely dangerous, especially if it becomes widespread, as is currently observed in Armenia. There are also more valuable converters, which is due to the large amount of precious metals contained within them. Thus, the proposed penalty should not be less than the financial benefits obtained from the dismantling and sale of the catalytic converter by a citizen or an official,” the justification document states.

If adopted, the bill will come into effect on January 1, 2021.

For more details, refer to the original source.