Parking fines could double

Baku/25.01.22/Turan: A draft amendment to the Code of Administrative Offenses has been submitted to the parliament, concerning the doubling of existing fines and the introduction of new fines for violation of the rules for stopping, parking and parking cars in Azerbaijan. The project will be discussed in the parliamentary committee on legal policy and state building. This initiative is in dissonance with many years of complaints from drivers about the lack and high cost of parking.

According to the State Traffic Police Department, on January 24 alone, during the raids carried out by the traffic police in connection with illegal car parking in Baku, about 1,000 fines were applied.

MP Fazil Mustafa told Turan that an increase in fines would lead to increased discontent among citizens. “Why are you increasing these fines? The current fines are already high. These people have low salaries and pensions. Should the driver suffer? This is completely wrong."

He believes that a citizen should not be so burdened with restrictions and fines. “Most of the population drives cars. What should these people do now if there is no parking or the roads are narrow? The roads were not built on time. So, it is necessary to increase fines by 20, 30, 40 manats each time? This is a method that provokes dissatisfaction of citizens with the state.”

He noted that first of all it is necessary to create alternative parking spaces. “Only after that, citizens can be asked not to leave their cars outside the parking lot. I don't think the penalties should be increased. It's like raising the price of bread."

Transport expert Arshad Huseynov said that the project does not provide for an increase in all fines. "There are 20-30 options for violating the parking rules. Currently, they all have a fine of 20 manats, only illegal parking at a bus stop costs 40 manats. In the latest version, fines for violating the rules of stopping have been increased in 3 options: fines for parking in the second, third and subsequent rows.The fine for parking on the sidewalk, intersection increased by 40 manat. In addition, increased fines from 10 to 20 manats for parking and obstructing other vehicles in the parking lot for people with disabilities.

The expert noted that the country has serious problems with the organization of parking spaces, as well as the definition of parking spaces. “Recently, the number of places where parking is prohibited has increased in Baku, the number of signs has increased. This is not the right approach, and in this case, the increase in fines will cause a lot of controversy.”

According to him, if the number of places where parking is prohibited increases, there will be no changes in the city's road infrastructure. “In some developed countries of the world, public transport is improving. That is, everywhere there are bus routes, tram lines, many metro stations, bike paths, sidewalks are being improved. In this case, parking in the city center may be prohibited. None of this is happening in Baku, there are no trams, bike paths are at zero level, the number of metro stations is not growing. You can't stop here."

Economist Rashad Hasanov said that such decisions are the result of a combination of several interests. “Although rising oil prices have an impact on government revenues, in some cases they do not have a direct impact on citizens' incomes. “The direct impact of oil prices on budget revenues during the year is very low. It is only a source of tax revenue from the oil sector. The other part of the income goes to the Oil Fund. Therefore, oil prices rise today does not have a direct impact on the discussion of the decision on fines.”

Service providers are trying to bolster their financial security, he said. “Secondly, it is possible that the increase in fines is a deterrent to preventing traffic violations. There may be other interests as well. The budget goes to inflation, maintenance costs are growing, additional salary increases are planned, and all this needs to be financed. They are mainly carried out at the expense of income received from other sources.—0—