Emalahleni is in for an early Christmas present.

The Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Amendment Act and the demerit system have been rolled out in 69 municipalities across the country, and the City of Coal is one of them.

Fines SA explained how it works:

Aarto uses a points demerit system, where you lose a set number of points for driving infringements.

Every type of licence starts with zero demerit points. For example, a learner driver may accumulate up to six demerit points without losing his or her driving privileges, and a licensed driver may accumulate up to 15 demerit points without losing his or her driving privileges.

Different infringements carry different demerit points, depending on severity.

Demerit points are applied when the fine is paid, an enforcement order is issued, or the person charged with a criminal offence is convicted. Unfortunately, paying the fine does not prevent demerit points; once you ‘earned’ them, they are on your permanent record.

Demerit points are reduced at a rate of one point every three months until your score is back to zero.

When the threshold specified above is exceeded, 15 points for regular drivers, the licence or relevant document is suspended for three months for each demerit point over the threshold.

During the suspension period, the affected person may not drive, and the affected vehicle may not be driven.

A driver’s licence may be suspended twice in the lifetime of its holder. If the threshold is again exceeded after two suspensions, the driver’s licence is cancelled.

Paying fines within 30 days reduces penalties by 50%.

HOW DO I CHECK MY FINES?

Visit www.aarto.gov.za and click on “query my fine”.

As a security measure, that facility requires that individuals provide their ID number and driving licence card number.

Juristic entities must provide their business register number and the ID number of their proxy. It can also only be accessed by IP addresses that are based in South Africa.

HOW DO I PAY MY FINE?

• Register on the Aarto-portal – www.aarto.gov.za – to create an account.
• Review the fines you wish to pay.
• Pay via one of the convenient payment methods: Snapscan, Zapper, Masterpass, Mobicred, credit or debit cards, EFT, or cash.
• You will receive an electronic receipt.
• You can also check the status of your fines on www.paycity.co.za or www.payfines.co.za

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