MoI offers 50% discount to settle past traffic fines

The General Directorate of Traffic has announced the launch of an initiative to settle accumulated traffic violations, which will come into effect on December 18 for a period of three months.The announcement came at a press conference organised by the directorate at its headquarters in Madinat Khalifa Monday. It was attended by Brig Mohamed Abdullah al-Shahwani, acting director-general at the Directorate of Traffic; Col Dr Mohamed Radi al-Hajri, director of the Traffic Awareness Department and Col Rashid Salih al-Qamra, assistant director of Licensing Affairs.Lauding the media for their co-operation in spreading traffic awareness, Brig al-Shahwani said: “On the initiative of the Ministry of Interior (MoI) and under the directives of HE Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa al-Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, the General Directorate of Traffic announces the launch of the initiative to settle accumulated traffic violations by activating a 50% discount. This discount will be available for a period of three months, starting from December 18, 2021, coinciding with the celebrations of Qatar National Day."After the expiry of this period, legal procedures will be applied to settle traffic violations, he added.The official called on everyone to take advantage of this initiative launched by the MoI and to settle the violations accumulated during the past years in this three-month period. Brig al-Shahwani stressed that new legal procedures will be applied regarding violations with the beginning of the new year, and the violations will be referred to the authorities concerned (Public Prosecution). He also pointed out that the General Directorate of Traffic emphasises the implementation of this procedure in order to benefit everyone, especially those who have accumulated previous violations. Such persons have to settle these violations, as well as those who have had their cars seized at the Traffic Department in the Industrial Area because of violations and take advantage of this initiative so that their vehicles will not be sold.He added that the payment can be done through the Metrash2 app, and if people face any problems with the violations, they can contact the Traffic Department.For his part, Col Dr al-Hajri said this initiative aims to rectify the situation of violators through a new mechanism based on the non-accumulation of traffic violations in the coming years. He stressed that all these procedures are to be carried out in co-ordination with the relevant authorities within the MoI as well as external authorities concerned with the judiciary. From 2022, there will be a new mechanism for curbing traffic violations and collecting fines for them. The goodwill initiative launched by the Ministry will benefit a large segment of road users, especially those who have committed traffic violations and accumulated large fines, he added.