The FSSP said collecting fines up to 300 rubles costs the state more than the fines themselves. The procedure through bailiffs alone costs about 300 rubles, and with staff costs more than 500. At a roundtable in the State Duma, Artur Parfenchikov proposed replacing such fines with administrative warnings and fining only for repeated violations in larger amounts. The initiative was supported by the Interior Ministry, but changes to the Administrative Code will be needed to implement it.
Collecting fines of up to 300 rubles is unprofitable for the state — that is exactly how much the procedure for collecting them through bailiffs costs, said Artur Parfenchikov, director of the Federal Bailiff Service (FSSP), at a roundtable in the State Duma. Taking into account the maintenance of the bailiff staff, the expenses are even higher — more than 500 rubles.In 2008, the service had to initiate enforcement proceedings for 9.8 million fines for violating traffic rules (in total, according to the Interior Ministry, 41 million fines were issued), said FSSP representative Natalya Selivanova. Of these, 2 million fines had already been paid, and yet it still took an average of 300 rubles to initiate enforcement proceedings, Selivanova notes. That means about 600 million rubles were spent in vain.
Instead of fines of up to 300 rubles, Parfenchikov proposed introducing a system of administrative warnings, and fining only for systematic violations already at a “significant amount.” According to Selivanova, the service’s board discussed an option in which fines for repeated minor violations start at 500 rubles. The service proposed such amendments, but is not yet preparing a bill, she says.
The proposal to raise the minimum fine threshold is justified, agrees Vladimir Kuzin, deputy head of the Traffic Safety Department of the Interior Ministry: warnings can already be issued now, but amendments to the Administrative Code will be required to launch the mechanism proposed by the bailiffs.