Aarto to hit e-toll defaulters
Motorists have until the beginning of December to comment on draft regulations that will see them pay a R100 levy when issued with a traffic fine and impose an R500 fine on individual e-toll defaulters every time they pass under a gantry.
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The regulations to the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) and related amendment act that were published in the Government Gazette earlier this month will once finalise, be implemented countrywide on July 1 next year – provided they survive a constitutional challenge by the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa).
According to Outa head of legal affairs Stefanie Fick, Aarto provides for a system of traffic law enforcement controlled by the national government. This usurps the powers reserved for provincial and local governments in the Constitution.
Assumptions and consequences
Outa further argues that the provisions in the Aarto Amendment Act for electronic service of documents are inadequate in light of the serious consequences should an alleged transgressor not receive Aarto notices.
The organisation says in its court papers that infringement notices served by email, SMS or WhatsApp messages could be blocked by firewalls or land in junk files.
In terms of the Act, the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA), which implements Aarto, assumes that after 10 days the notice has been successfully delivered and proceeds with a process that could result in R200 of further levies, demerit points and the blocking of the motorist on the eNatis database
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