Bailiffs set their sights towards towed cars. Quite soon the Federal Bailiff Service might gain access to the towed vehicle database meaning that if you have a lot of unsettled fines and your car was towed due to parking violation it might be subject to administrative forfeiture.
As reported by such digital editions as “Za rulem”, “Argumenti nedeli”, “Moskva 24” and others, this information was published by Maxim Liksutov, Moscow's Deputy Mayor for Transport, on his personal Facebook account. It was stated in the message:”The database containing the information on vehicles towed to the impound lots due to violation of road traffic regulations in Moscow will be available to the representatives of the Federal Bailiff Service. If the owner of the towed vehicle has any overdue fine payments or an effective court decision on seizure of property, the bailiff will seize the vehicle. It’s a serious motivation to check everything in due time to avoid any unnecessary troubles”.
Unfortunately, we did not have the chance to check the authenticity of this quotation as we couldn’t find the corresponding statement on Maxim Liksutov’s Facebook page. In this case we have to rely on the trustworthiness of other digital sources. Many questions arise in relation to this statement. Who is going to be liable for the slow work of systems responsible for processing of paid fines? What amount of fines should be exceeded to cause seizure of property? No official statements have been made.
Maybe it was a PR stunt performed by Liksutov to make car owners finally pay their fines. On the other hand, it’s difficult to believe in many of those facts. It was promised in February that a “wall of shame” would be available on the dt.mos.ru where one would publish the photos of cars violating parking regulations. Well, it actually happened — one can really find the images of towed vehicles, however, there is no “shame” seen anywhere.
In any case, it’s time to think about the amount of unsettled fines you have. And if you did receive a “good luck letter” you should better pay the fine. Or otherwise, you can go to court and appeal against the penalty if you assume it had been imposed illegally.
