Going to vehicle inspection just found out I got fined, what to do?

Fined but not notified

Recently, many people have reported that they were fined for traffic violations only after going to get their cars inspected. Many car owners were surprised because they had not received any notice of the violation.

Mr. Tuan (owner of a Hyundai Accent in Viet Tri, Phu Tho) said that on February 10, he was notified by the vehicle inspection center of a traffic violation and was fined, so he was only allowed to have his vehicle inspected for 15 days.

"The inspection center instructed me to contact the Hanoi Traffic Police Department to resolve the violation. However, before that, I was not sent any violation notice, even though I had a clear residential address and registered the vehicle in my name from the beginning," said Mr. Tuan.

According to the inspection centers, from 2020, cars that are warned on the inspection system mainly due to unpaid fines will be selected for inspection within 15 days (or inspection later; before that, the violation must be resolved before the warning can be removed) to help create conditions for car owners to have time to resolve the violation.

The warnings usually only have the phone number of the traffic police unit requesting the warning, but in many cases, there is only the name of the traffic police unit, but no address or phone number. This makes car owners frustrated because it takes a lot of time to look up or go to the place to ask about the violation.

Many cars were fined after being inspected. Photo: Vu Tien

Mr. Nguyen Minh Hai - Director of Inspection Center 29-03S said that each month, the unit conducts inspections for about 3,000 vehicles, of which 50-60 vehicles are refused inspection due to not implementing the penalty decision of the authorities.

According to Mr. Hai, when a vehicle has a violation and has been warned on the inspection management program, the inspection centers will notify the vehicle owner to carry out the penalty decision before the inspection.

"Fine fines for traffic violations are also another form of deterrence for vehicle owners and drivers to improve their compliance with traffic laws," said Mr. Hai.

Major Ly Thi Thu Trang - Deputy Head of the Traffic Light Team and Traffic Command Center, Hanoi City Police Traffic Police Department said that according to current regulations, when the camera records images of a vehicle violating the law on the road, within 5 days, the Traffic Police will send a notice to the vehicle owner whose name is on the registration, inviting them to come to work to confirm the driver.

The notice of violation is sent in the form of a guarantee, even if the vehicle owner does not receive it or for whatever reason, the post office will report it.

Then, after 15 days, the traffic police will continue to send a second notice to the police station of the commune, ward or town where the vehicle owner resides.

In addition, the traffic police also post information on the website of the Traffic Police Department (Ministry of Public Security) or the press agency of Hanoi. Vehicle owners who want to know if there is a violation or not just need to go to the website of the Traffic Police Department to know.

According to Major Trang, the actual process of sending violation notices shows that many times the vehicle owner owns a house but rents it out, the tenant receives the notice but does not send it to the vehicle owner. Or in the case of a business owner, the office has often been moved so the address is not the same as in the vehicle registration.

Regarding the fact that many vehicle owners only found out about the violation after going for inspection through previous photos, Major Trang said: All vehicle owners who have been warned must return to the Traffic Police unit where the violation was initially detected to resolve the issue. Once the fine is paid, the Traffic Police will change the status on the system from “not yet fined” to “processed”. Thus, vehicle owners can proceed with vehicle inspection as usual.