RIYADH — The Ministry of Interior, represented by the General Department of Traffic, said that the bank balances of traffic fine defaulters will be withheld in order use the money to settle the delayed fines. The new mechanism of the move, which is a measure of direct execution of the order of slapping fines, will be announced later in coordination with the relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance, the Saudi Central Bank, and the Board of Grievances. The move comes in application of a Royal decree issued April 15 to amend Article 75 of the Traffic Law, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The assets in the accounts of the traffic defaulter will be withheld if they fail to pay fines within 15 days after the 30-day period that is specified for filing objections to fines, or if the competent court rejects the violator's objection or issues a ruling on making changes in the amounts of the slapped fine, unless the violator applies to get another maximum grace period of 90 days to pay the fine. The Ministry of Interior, in agreement with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministerial Committee for Traffic Safety, shall determine the violations that do not apply to withholding and direct execution of the penalty, if it is not endangering public safety. The ministry will publish the list of traffic violations to which direct withholding of defaulters bank accounts does not apply, in addition to other regulations such as allowing split payment of traffic fine and granting discount of 25 percent of fine in certain cases. The ministry called on citizens and residents to abide by the rules of road traffic and not to commit traffic violations so as to achieve the objectives of the traffic system that seeks to preserve public safety by reducing the causes that lead to traffic accidents and the resulting human and material losses.
