Why Authorities Have Eased Driver Fines

Doubts have emerged in Armenian society regarding the legitimacy and practical necessity of the recent changes to driver fines. The Armenian Parliament has approved amendments to the law on Administrative Offenses, which state that from May 1, driver fines will be reduced for three months. According to the authors of the amendment, these changes aim to enhance road traffic safety and encourage citizens to exhibit more law-abiding behavior.

In an interview with Sputnik Armenia, Ruslan Marandyan, head of the legal department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and a police colonel, stated that these amendments were also made with reference to certain objective issues. “There are two types of incentives proposed, and the first aim is to encourage drivers to use electronic notifications. The second is to encourage the timely and honest payment of fines, after which the fine amount will be reduced,” Marandyan noted.

“Thus, for the first group of drivers, if violations are recorded by photographic devices and the driver consents to receive notifications electronically, the fine amount will automatically be reduced by 20%. In the second case, fines for violating road traffic rules will be reduced by 30% if paid within 15 days,” he added.

He emphasized that the provided discount does not apply to violations recorded by patrol services; in such cases, fines are issued immediately at the scene.

To take advantage of the proposed discount, registration must be completed on the official portal roadpolice.am before May 1, as notifications obtained through alternative platforms will not be considered.

Tigran Keyan, head of the NGO “Your Driver,” also noted that neither reducing nor increasing fines can effectively “educate” a disciplined driver. “We will have disciplined drivers and citizens only if we have quality education. This is the only fact that this government needs to understand and act upon,” Keyan remarked.

Regarding the actual bill, Keyan raised a concern that deputies had previously overlooked. Until the last amendments, fines for tinted windows were charged from citizens on illegal grounds. Courts have repeatedly proven the drivers' correctness in these disputes. It is only recently that changes have been made to the law that address this issue.

The NGO leader pointed out that the decision to reduce penalties for parking in the second lane contradicts the declared objectives, as such violations are precisely what cause difficulties in city traffic. “Indeed, taxi drivers justifiably note that they often receive fines for waiting for a passenger in the second lane due to the passenger's delays and lack of parking spaces. However, this concession will apply not only to them but to everyone. This norm cannot be considered a step towards improvement,” Keyan emphasized.

Keyan argues that offering discounts for timely payment of fines is not a display of goodwill from the authorities or a reflection of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's belief that citizens are “not fine material.” The expert is confident that with these changes, authorities are conveying to drivers that they will impose fines strictly but will also allow them to pay in installments, even though the penalties themselves will remain as strict.

It is worth noting that starting May 1, a bonus system will include a 20% discount if the driver receives notification of violations recorded by photographic devices electronically. If a driver pays 50% of the fine for violations before the law comes into effect, and if the case is also with the Enforcement Service, then the payment obligation will be considered fulfilled.

Changes have also been made regarding the points assessed for stopping or parking in the second lane, reducing the penalty from 0.5 to 0.25 points for the offending driver.