Dubai: A top police official said Dubai Police headquarters were not notified of the new regulation by the public prosecution to have traffic fine objections filed either at police stations or at the traffic prosecution office and not at Dubai Police's Traffic Department.
Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Chief of Dubai Police, said, during a phone interview on Wednesday, that they had not been notified about the matter and "it is completely illogical to have this regulation as the traffic department is the concerned authority with such matters, specifically traffic fines."
The new regulation has resulted in major confusion among officials, some police stations and motorists.
In 2009, 1,000 applicants objected to their traffic fines. Of that number, 297 had their fines waived while 417 had to pay.
Major General Mohammad Saif Al Zafein, Director General of Dubai Police's Traffic Department, said: "We received around 15 complaints on Tuesday from the public over their confusion about the recent regulation which we were not notified about.
"These people lodged their objections at the traffic department and when they were referred to the traffic prosecution their applications were rejected. It is an embarrassment for us."
Mohammad Farouq, who approached the traffic department to file a traffic fine objection form, said he had been running back and forth for the past two days to figure out where to go.
"I was told to go to the police station that is in the area where the fine was issued. When I asked which station to go as the fine was issued at the airport tunnel they told me Al Qusais Police Station," he said.
"When I went there I was told it was the wrong place and that I should go to Al Rashidiya. When I went there they told me they had not been informed about the new regulation and that I should go back to the traffic department."
Have you had any trouble paying your traffic fines? What was the problem? Was it fixed? Do traffic fines deter you from violating road rules?
