Portugal's Socialist Party has looked at the fines for non-payment of tolls on Portugal’s motorway system and has delivered a project that limits the total payable.
The proposal to lower the fines for non-payment of tolls will benefit drivers as the current scheme has seen rapidly mounting total charges of up to 50 times the original toll fee.
The Socialists propose two major changes; to lower the fines and to increase the payment deadline.
The aim is for the fine to be limited to between twice and five times the toll amount, with a minimum of €10.
The current 2006 law allows a penalty of a "minimum value corresponding to 10 times the value of the toll, but not less than €25 euros, and a maximum value to five times the minimum value of fine."
This of course is not happening, as fines and fees have escalated and have created notorious cases where the total owed is nearly 50 times that of the original toll fee.
One case for the non-payment of a toll of €24.75 "gave rise to the payment of a total fine of €1,237.50 plus €76.50 court costs," or almost 50 times the original amount.
If the Socialist proposals had been used in this instance, the driver would have been liable to a fine of between €49.50 and €123.75.
Another of the rules that the Socialists want to change is an extension to the current deadline for payment of the fine from the current 15 days, to 30 days as fines and fees “can have a major impact on household budgets.”
The Socialists want the new rules applied to existing processes but whether the proposals will go through parliament remains to be seen as the government’s current emphasis on a ‘dash for cash’ is likely to overcome the most sensible adaptations to existing laws.
