The traffic police has begun to fine owners of heavy trucks for failure to pay tolls on federal highways, a source close to the Platon operator told RBC, and was confirmed by several interlocutors at carrier companies.
A vehicle for monitoring the payment of tolls for users registered in the register of the state toll collection system "Platon" on one of the highways near Moscow (Photo: RIA Novosti)
Since mid-February, truck owners have been receiving fines for unpaid travel on federal highways through the Platon system. The owners of heavy-duty vehicles told RBC about this and was confirmed by a source close to the Platon operator, RT-Invest Transport Systems (RTITS). According to him, on February 15, 2016 alone, traffic police inspectors issued about 1 thousand fines worth about 5 million rubles. “The statistics are approximately the same on other working days,” he clarifies. If we assume that the collection of fines began on the 15th, it turns out that in February (including holidays) fines worth about 50 million rubles could have been issued.
The RTITS representative does not comment on these figures. But he reports that in recent days the number of people wishing to register in the system has increased.“Users with fines come to many Platon offices in different cities and register in the system. For example, in Kirov, Voronezh, Belgorod, Cheboksary, Naberezhnye Chelny, Krasnodar,” he lists.
The traffic police representative has not yet responded to RBC's request. Earlier in early February, several top managers of carrier companies and a source close to Rosavtodor said that the traffic police do not fine people for failure to pay tolls on federal highways. RBC's interlocutors explained this by the fact that the interaction between the traffic police and the RTITS was not well established. At the end of 2015, Vedomosti wrote that there was an unspoken moratorium on the collection of fines. With reference to an official in the transport sector, the newspaper noted that truck drivers are not fined, as there is a corresponding instruction from above - not to fine until the intensity decreases. But this did not apply to foreign carriers, who were fined since December 2015.
The state began collecting fees from heavy trucks for travel on federal highways on November 15, 2015. Carriers must pay for travel through the Platon system. In 2014, the RTITS company was chosen as its operator without a competition (50% owned by Igor Rotenberg, another 50% by businessman Andrei Shipelov and Rostec structures). Initially, fines for non-payment of travel were 450 thousand rubles. for the first violation and 1 million rubles. for repeating. But on December 15, President Vladimir Putin signed a law according to which fines were reduced to 5 thousand rubles. and 10 thousand rubles. respectively.
Platon collects data on violators and cases of non-payment in automatic modefrom means of recording offenses and has been processing since November 15, says a representative of RTITS. The operator acts according to the agreed with the traffic police protocols, and themselvesThe inspectorate issues fines, he explains. Representative of Rosavtodor
Heavy vehicles cause the greatest damage to asphalt pavement. There are two ways to prevent deterioration in the quality of roads, as well as partially cover the losses caused to domestic highways: by controlling the maximum permissible weight of trucks and collecting tolls. At the same time, a fine for Platon in 2019 can be imposed not only for exceeding the carrying capacity, but also for failures in the system itself. If a violation is recorded again, the driver or owner of the truck may be fined twice the previous fine.
Is it possible to drive without Plato? If a citizen is the owner of a car, then he will not face tolls on any federal roads (except for toll roads). Drivers who drive trucks whose total weight does not exceed 12 tons do not need to pay for Platon.
The toll collection system is intended primarily for heavy-duty trucks and other large-capacity vehicles. They cause the main damage to the quality of roads.
The operating principle of the Plato system is quite simple. The driver or owner of the truck is required to have a special device in the cab that tracks the movement of the vehicle. An analogue of the device is a route map.
The device or map displays the vehicle's route. Every kilometer of travel on a federal road requires payment. Today the tariff is 1.90 rubles. for 1 km. Most of this money, with the exception of the commission of the operator servicing the system, is transferred to the account of the Road Fund of the Russian Federation, from which capital and current repairs of highways throughout the country are financed.
Those drivers who do not want to pay or deliberately change the route indications face a fine for “Platon”. It is the same for legal entities and individuals. According to Article 12.21.3 of the Administrative Code, the fine for “Platon” is 5,000 rubles. A repeated violation committed 24 hours later is punishable by a fine of 10,000 rubles. If repeated disregard of the system rules was recorded within 24 hours after the first violation, then no penalty will be assessed for it.
What will they be fined for?
Despite the fact that the fine for driving without a Plato was reduced (until 2016 it reached 40 thousand rubles), this did not affect the grounds for administrative penalties. In particular, a penalty may be issued if the following reasons exist:
- absence of a Platon device or a completed route map in the driver’s cabin;
- driving onto a federal highway with a non-working Platon device;
- lack of sufficient funds on the device balance to pay for travel;
- departure along a different route and on a different day than indicated on the route map.
Many drivers are interested in what the fine will be for not including Platon, and is it possible to include the amount paid for travel on the federal highway in the transport tax? Regarding the first question, the answer is clear: a non-working device gives every reason to impose a fine of 5,000 rubles. The inclusion of the amount paid in the Platon system in the transport tax is allowed on a general basis. Tax cannot be paid off with a fine.
To reduce the amount of transport tax, the truck owner must submit an application to the Federal Tax Service with information about making payments into the Platon system for the reporting period. In this case, only the cost of travel of 12 tons per 1 km on federal highways is taken into account. If the amount paid exceeds the amount of the annual transport tax, then you will not have to pay it. If the payment is less, then this amount is deducted from the tax payment.
Drivers should take into account that either they are not directly related to the Platon system or administrative penalties for violating the rules of payment for the use of federal highways. The grounds and amount of the fine in each of the mentioned cases are determined in accordance with a separate article of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.
Methods for checking fines
How to check Plato fines? To do this, you need to go to the official website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, from the main page follow the link “Online services” - “Staff Police Services”. By clicking on the last link, the citizen is taken to the traffic police website, where he can check for a fine by entering the license plate number of his vehicle and the number of its state registration certificate. As an alternative verification method, you can use the State Services online service.
The “Platon” system is understood as a kind of duty for the use of the roadway on federal highways by heavy vehicles whose dimensions exceed 12 tons. The name itself in the abbreviation means “payment per 1 ton”. This provision was adopted by the authorities together with Rosavtodor and the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate on November 15, 2015.
The Platon toll system was introduced at the end of 2015
The main reason for introducing the tax
The introduction of the tax is associated with regular damage to asphalt pavement by heavy vehicles, which leads to multi-million dollar damage. In February 2016, Rosavtodor included in the list those trucks whose permitted weight exceeds the approved values. Violators are required to pay fines to the state. The Russian system of collecting funds for the rental of heavy-duty trucks on federal routes has been combined into a functional project, the feasibility of which is still being confirmed. For example, according to the traffic police, by the end of 2015, the first violating carrier was identified, owing the state more than 12,500,000 rubles.
There are several ways to pay for travel on highways where the toll law applies:
- use of the carrier's route card;
- use of the on-board device.
The calculation of funds to be paid is determined by the actual mileage of heavy vehicles at the current rate of 3.73 rubles. for 1 km. An established portion of all funds collected from carriers is redirected to the Road Fund for further repairs of the roadway.
The funds collected with the help of Plato are going to be used for road repairs
Conditions of the moratorium on fines
The moratorium is imposed on late payment of fines for driving heavy vehicles on federal highways and highways behind the scenes. “The moratorium is unspoken, because it can reduce the activity of carriers in paying the established amount for 1 km,” says an authorized participant in the Platon system. The system has already been recognized as the most scandalous due to the reluctance of truck owners to pay for mileage on highways, due to the fact that vehicle tax is mandatory.
The Vedomosti newspaper found out from traffic police sources that an unspoken moratorium exists, despite the only official fact of imposing penalties on a carrier from Estonia in the amount of 5 thousand rubles.
A representative of the bureaucratic apparatus from Rostransnadzor stated that control is carried out only over foreign carriers, and collection reports have been compiled since January 2016. It is not yet possible to conduct statistical analysis, but traffic police inspectors identify violations every day. The number of such violations in Russia is greater than those in Europe.
A moratorium on fines exists, but unofficially
A little about fines
The Platon system has the honor of becoming a high-profile project. Fines for the service were postponed to May 2016, and their size was reduced to a minimum (almost 99 times). The authorities took into account the opinion of truckers and carriers, who will now continue protests against the current situation on the roads and the introduction of fines for free travel. Since the establishment of the Platon system, the State Duma has established the amount of fines from 5,000 to 1,000,000 rubles. It was then decided to review the fines and set the following acceptable thresholds:
- for the first violation - 5,000 rubles;
- for repeated violation – 10,000 rubles.
At the moment, the state apparatus has decided not to impose penalties on carriers until the indignation on the part of ordinary truckers and transport organizations subsides. A direct instruction came - not to fine, to cancel the penalty. But, despite this, it is not customary to pronounce this information out loud. There is a risk of permanent termination of payments. All collections have been officially postponed, but formally the issue remains open. Authorized representatives of Prime Minister D. Medvedev are not aware of the existence of any unofficial moratoriums. And representatives of Deputy Prime Minister A. Dvorkovich for road policy leave the situation about the existence of a moratorium without comment. The traffic police officers also do not provide explanations.
The issue of fines is still open
Open questions
The picture surrounding the operation of the Platon service system and the collection of funds remains unclear. There is evidence that in 2016 Rosavtodor plans to raise up to 40 billion rubles. Numerous protests and indignation on the part of carrier organizations and truckers prompted the government to change the initial approach to the overall organization of the system. The fines have been deferred for now.
Now the Russian Ministry of Transport is only studying the need to include in the Platon system the collection of fees from owners of heavy vehicles whose dimensions do not exceed 12 tons. And on the official website of the service itself, we found an option for paying a kind of duty on passenger vehicles. By the evening of December 23, 2015, the Ministry of Transport denied all information regarding the collection of tolls for heavy vehicles weighing less than 12 tons.
An official statement from the Ministry of Transport states that there are no fees for modes of transport other than heavy-duty ones. In six months the situation has changed a lot. At the beginning of December, officials from Rosavtodor presented data on fees in the amount of 1 billion rubles for only half a month of operation of the Platon service. Already from November 15, 2015, the fare for heavy vehicles weighing 12 tons began to amount to 1.53 rubles. per 1 km, and from March 1, 2016, the fee for each kilometer traveled increased to 3.06 rubles.
It is unclear what information will be relevant for the coming month, what will change, and what collection measures will be taken finally, but it is impossible to unequivocally state the existence of a moratorium or its absence.
To date, there is no moratorium on fines for owners of heavy vehicles who have not entered their registration data into the Platon system. According to the deputy management of Rosavtodor D. Pronchatov, fines are valid on federal highways, starting from the first day of operation of the service. Today, the figures for revenues to the Federal Road Fund for the last six months are known, varying around the amount of 366,000,000 rubles.
Since December 15, 2015, a new edition of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses has been in force. Lawmakers have reduced fines for truck owners and drivers for payment violations in the Platon system.
On December 15, 2015, the day of official publication, certain provisions of Federal Law dated December 14, 2015 N 378-FZ came into force regarding the reduction of administrative fines for the passage of trucks with a permissible maximum weight of over 12 tons on public roads of federal significance without entering the fee into the Platon system. It is noteworthy that in the current version of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, administrative responsibility for such a violation in all cases rests only with the owner of the truck; the driver can be fined only if the truck belongs to a foreign carrier. Corresponding amendments have been made to “Non-compliance with the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation on payment of payment for compensation for damage caused to public roads of federal significance by vehicles with a permissible maximum weight of over 12 tons.” The new version of the article provides for administrative liability for driving heavy vehicles on federal highways without paying a fee to compensate for damage caused to roads, in the form of a fine of 5 thousand rubles. This liability applies to drivers of vehicles owned by foreign carriers and to owners of trucks with Russian registration. For repeated violation, a fine of 10 thousand rubles is provided. In addition, two notes have been added to Article 12.21.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, according to which administrative liability does not arise for drivers of trucks with foreign registration if “the length of the distance actually covered by the vehicle without paying a fee was no more than fifty kilometers after crossing the State Border of the Russian Federation.” Federation and if payment for compensation for damage caused to public roads of federal significance by such a vehicle has been made in the prescribed manner" at the time of consideration of the case of an administrative offense. Also, it is prohibited to hold truck owners administratively liable for a repeated violation within 24 hours from the moment the first case of driving without payment was recorded. Article 23.36 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation determines that the jurisdiction of the federal executive body exercising federal state transport supervision includes the consideration of cases of administrative offenses, responsibility for which is provided for in Article 12. 21.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation only “in the part relating to vehicles owned by foreign carriers, owners (possessors) of vehicles.” The new version of Article 27.13 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation provides that:In case of committing an administrative offense provided for in Article 12.9, parts 6 and 7 of Article 12.16 and Article 12.21.3 of this Code, in relation to vehicles belonging to foreign carriers, owners (possessors) of vehicles, detaining the vehicle by stopping movement using blocking devices applies until an administrative fine is paid.
Article 31.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation stipulates that a deferment or installment plan for the execution of a decision imposing an administrative penalty in the form of an administrative fine cannot be applied to foreign citizens under Article 12.21.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. Therefore, the new version of Article 32.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation provides that the administrative fine for violation of payment of payment to Platon by a foreign carrier must be paid before the departure of the vehicle owned by him, on which the administrative offense was committed, from the territory of the Russian Federation.
