PALMA City Council is planning changes to its existing policy over the fining of non-resident foreigners in Palma, municipal sources confirmed yesterday.
As the law stands at the moment, foreigners who do not have a fixed address in the city cannot be subject to traffic or parking fines. But the council has calculated that it can rake in 150'000 euros over the next ten months if it sets up a system enabling non-residents to pay in the same way as local people and foreign residents, if they break the highway code.
Part of these changes will mean that a bid will go out to public tender for a company specifically dedicated to imposing fines and collecting them from foreign transgressors.
The same sources said that the contract specification for the collection company will be posted at City Hall within 10 days which means the service could be up and running by June or July. Although non-resident foreigners cannot currently be forced to pay motoring fines because of the impracticality of collection, the move is part of a European Union driven scheme to track fines incurred in transit by visitors who come from EU member states. Eventually, the aim is to set up a data base which will enable tracking of motorists who owe money in traffic fines throughout the EU.
The contract period, said a spokesman will be set for 10 months because at this stage, the process of imposing fines and collection is still at a pilot project stage. If it is successful however, the bid will once more be put out to public tender. Nevertheless, on this occasion, the successful bidder will be able to keep 45 percent of the fine money collected to a maximum of just under 71'000 euros.
The Transport department at the Council said that the new system isn't going to mean any drain on public fund and that anything remaining after the collection company has taken its slice will go into the Council's coffers.
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