15,000 OUT OF COURT UNPAID PENALTIES FOR TOURISTS

 Filenews 4 November 2020 - byMichalis Hatzivasilis  

No more "illegal and not paying" by tourists puts a bill prepared by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works, which saw unpaid out-of-court documents issued to offenders skyrocket.

In the last three years, more than 15 thousand unpaid out-of-court payments have been accumulated by tourists who came to Cyprus, broke the law and then left as gentlemen without paying. For Famagusta region alone, from 2014-2018 there were 6,200 out-of-court tourists unpaid. After that, Transport Minister Giannis Karousos gave instructions for the preparation of a bill that changes the current situation. As stated in "F", the aim of the bill is those who rent vehicles, motorcycles or four-wheeled "pigs" and commit an offence, will pay their out-of-court bills before they leave Cyprus. It is not possible, he added, for a tourist to get drunk and drive, then to be tracked down and denounced, but to leave for his country without paying for his illegality.

According to the bill, which has been consulted with rental office owners, any tourist wishing to rent a motor vehicle will be bound by a contract that with its delivery will also pay any outstanding out-of-court payments. As Mr. Karusos explained, once the police make a complaint about a rental vehicle driver, the office from which he was rented will automatically be informed of the infringement and the out-of-court. Thus, with his surrender he will be asked to pay the fine.

The bill provides that if the tourist avoids paying it to the rental office, then within 24 hours he will be taken to the court where the case will be registered and prosecuted. In this way, the Minister of Transport believes, road safety will be improved in relation to tourists, since they will be more careful when they move on the roads, when they know that they will be forced to pay for the offence they committed before they leave for their homeland.