Local authorities not only do not report the fines to MIMS (3 billion a year), as required by law, under penalty of 90% of transfers, but also in the verification activity there are not a few irregularities.
A sort of '' jungle '' that sees these expenses, borne by the citizen, even doubling in some cases from municipality to municipality.
A situation highlighted in a recent hearing of the Antitrust in the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on the protection of the rights of users and consumers and on which the President of the Commission, Simone Baldelli and Codacons are now asking for clarity.
"There are currently no objective quantification criteria set by the legislator on the costs of ascertaining road fines and each local authority acts according to its full discretion, often perpetrating obvious abuses", the Antitrust pointed out during the hearing, highlighting the variability of these costs imposed by municipalities on citizens, which can reach up to 15 euros per penalty.
In short, a real '' jungle '' left to the discretion of individual entities.
Currently, on the basis of the provisions of Agcom (Resolution no. 469/19 / Cons), the overall rate for the costs of notifying judicial documents by post is fixed at a flat rate of 9.50 euros.
Article 201, paragraph 4 of the Highway Code provides that "the costs of assessment and notification are charged to whoever is required to pay the pecuniary administrative sanction".
From the analysis of some municipal council resolutions carried out by the Antitrust it emerges that each municipality, in the part dedicated to the determination of the assessment costs, includes the most varied and diverse items such as: printing costs, mailing costs, purchase and maintenance costs of palmtops for the detection of infringements, maintenance of equipment and service management software, self-mailing modules,
drafting of the lists of registered letters, inquiries to the databases of the Civil Motorization, etc.
The amount of the verification costs alone, which are added to the notification costs (9.50 euros), varies from a minimum of 2.50 euros to a maximum of 10 euros.
"The discretionary definition of these expenses, at sometimes high levels, translates into an exploitation of the weak position of the consumer / citizen, who is forced to pay them by express provision of the law without being able to contest the quantum in any place" - explained the Antitrust president, Roberto Rustichelli.
50 euros to a maximum of 10 euros.
"The discretionary definition of these expenses, at sometimes high levels, translates into an exploitation of the weak position of the consumer / citizen, who is forced to pay them by express provision of the law without being able to contest the quantum in any place" - explained the Antitrust president, Roberto Rustichelli.
50 euros to a maximum of 10 euros.
"The discretionary definition of these expenses, at sometimes high levels, translates into an exploitation of the weak position of the consumer / citizen, who is forced to pay them by express provision of the law without being able to contest the quantum in any place" - explained the Antitrust president, Roberto Rustichelli.
The Authority, in a second session held on 24 May, provided tables from which it emerges that some municipalities, among the assessment costs, include for example the item "Visure Aci", the cost of which varies, depending on the local administration, from a minimum of € 0.80 to a maximum of € 1.83, with a difference of 128%.
The cost of "forms, printers, cartridges, equipment maintenance" goes from a minimum of € 2.50 to a maximum of € 9.30, with a difference of 272% between one municipality and another.
The Antitrust then found another anomaly: when the notification of road fines takes place via Pec, and therefore the fixed "Notification fees" of 9.50 euros to be paid by citizens are reset to zero, some municipalities considerably increase the costs of assessment,
Codacon announces battle, ready to denounce, Baldelli explains that "we need to understand what a standard average cost can be to be set in a transparent and reasonable way, to avoid discrimination between citizens who reside in different municipalities and who, among other things, cannot not even contest the amount of these costs, and to take away the temptation of some local administration to use this item to round off the revenue from road fines ".
