Vehicles parked illegally in Baku will no longer be towed, fines to be halved

The Baku Transport Agency has developed a new system of parking control.

How it was and how things have changed

Earlier, drivers were fined by the road police, and their cars were towed away by trucks to a car lot. Drivers then had to go to the lot to retrieve their car, where they would pay the fine for illegal parking and for the services of the tow truck. This came out to about 40 manat or $24.

Fines will now be half of that, and drivers will be able to pay fines online.

In July, the Baku Transport Agency was tasked with developing a photo and video recording system for parking lots and areas where parking is prohibited.

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A recently fined motorist told JAMnews how the new fine system works.

“I received a text message from the transport agency with a photo and gps-coordinates of my car which was incorrectly parked in the city centre. The fine is 20 manat (about $12), but if I pay within 10 days I will receive a discount of 10%.”

Drivers’ reactions

The first people to be fined shared their impressions on social media:

“If a car is not going to be taken away, then it is already a step up.”

“Only 20 manat? Double-parking should be fined ten times as much.”

“If this is to rid the city of traffic jams, then fines are only half the battle. Without a sufficient number of parking spaces and the development of public transport, the problem with traffic jams cannot be solved.”