Sharjah: The announcement on the waiver for accumulated traffic fines in Sharjah has left a handful of motorists confused. They allege that the provision is not being implemented uniformly across all traffic police departments in the emirate.
However, the Sharjah Police stressed that a discount of 50 per cent is being applied on all traffic fines committed before December 28, 2011, and that any complaint in this regard must be resolved by the head of the fine settlement office.
"I went to pay my fines at the Sharjah Traffic Department, but they refused to give me the 50 per cent reduction. They were unable to supply any information on why I was denied the waiver," Qasim Naeem, who went to pay his fines on January 3, said. "I took a day off from work just to pay my fines. But, I did not get any discount, in fact I ended up losing a day's salary as well."
Sadereddin Ahmad, another motorist who also went to pay his fines last Tuesday, said he was sceptical right from when he saw the announcement on the waiver in newspapers. "The police officer had no idea about it and I was unable to talk to the branch manager as well," Ahmad said.
The Sharjah Police announced that owners of vehicles and motorists who had accumulated fines need to pay only 50 per cent of their traffic tickets if they opt to settle their dues before the end of April 2012. The waiver is applied for fines committed only before December 28, 2011.
According to police statistics, 402,622 traffic offences were recorded in the first half of 2011, down from 562,064 committed in the same period of 2010.
Captain Mohammad Rashid Al Shehi, an official from the Traffic and Patrol Department at Sharjah Police, stressed that all employees are aware of the discounts, and that motorists should speak to the branch manager if they are not provided with the waiver.
"The discount is only offered against offences committed in 2011. So, it is important to know when the fine was issued. All the traffic departments are aware about the discounts and during the first few days, we received a large turnout in all the branches," Al Shehi said.
He added that all departments across the emirate, including Al Dhaid, offered the 50 per cent discount and that residents could pay their fines at any nearest traffic police department instead of going to the headquarters.
