RIYADH — Saudi Arabia has formulated new mechanisms to penalize violations related to the transport and logistics sector, similar to penalties stipulated in the table of penalties for municipal violations. The measure came based on the joint minutes prepared by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, and the Ministry of Transport and Logistics, regarding the request to grant the latter the authority to penalize violations within its legally established jurisdictions, and to impose penalties in accordance with the regulations for penalties for municipal violations, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported quoting the reliable sources. Last month, the Council of Ministers approved to grant the Ministry of Transport and Logistics the authority to catch violations and penalize, and that is in accordance with the regulation of penalties for municipal violations. The Cabinet decided that the Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, and the Minister of Transport and Logistics should agree to specify the violations in the schedule of Article 3 of the Regulation related to the latter's legally established powers, with the imposition of the stipulated penalties, without prejudice to the powers of the Ministry Municipal Affairs in the Regulation and taking into account Article 5 thereof. The Minister of Transport and Logistics shall issue the necessary executive decisions and its execution mechanism, taking into account the necessary coordination with the Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing. The Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing shall authorize the Minister of Transport and Logistics with regard to the issuance of a decision on whoever is responsible from the employees or workers of his ministry to catch the violations prescribed by law and specified in the schedule of Article Three, and to impose the stipulated penalties. The Council of Ministers granted the Ministry of Transport and Logistics, in agreement with the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, the authority to authorize some mayoralties or municipalities to cover a specific geographical area to carry out the oversight process, catch violations, and impose penalties, provided that the financial revenues resulting from the fines will be counted as municipal revenues. The Council of Ministers decided that the Ministry of Transport and Logistics would coordinate with the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, with regard to finding appropriate solutions when observations or obstacles arise while implementing the new mechanisms. It is noteworthy that Article 3 of the Punitive Regulations for Municipal Waste specifies the amount of the penalty, the extent to which it can be doubled, how to deal with the resulting damages, and other penalties. Last month, the Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing started implementing a table of penalties for the updated municipal violations, including violations pertaining to commercial activities, health facilities, damage to public property and public cleanliness, advertising and billboards, municipal fees associated with a percentage of sales, gas stations, and electrical vehicle charging, sales, and buildings. The ministry explained that there will be a minimum period of 14 days before imposing the penalty for the same violation once again in the event of its repeated occurrence after applying the penalty for the first time. This will be applicable to each of the serious violations that do not have specified corrective periods, as well as for non-serious violations related to commerce, public hygiene, commercial waste transport, roads and streets, construction, gas stations, advertising and billboards, and municipal fees linked to a percentage of tobacco sales.
