KINGSTON, Jamaica— The Court Administration Division [CAD] is reminding the public that the courts cannot institute proceedings against any person who has been issued a traffic ticket until the expiration of the 21-day period during which they are to pay the fines at tax collectorate offices.

“It is at the expiration of this period, where the fine is not paid, that the traffic ticket becomes a summons for the person to appear in court and enter a plea, after which a judge will impose a fine,” the CAD said in a statement Tuesday.

The CAD said it is aware that members of the public are unable to pay their traffic ticket fines at tax collectorates islandwide.

As a result, some people have been going to office of the courts attempting to pay the fixed penalty fine before the deadline for payment at the authorised collectorate has expired.

“We are therefore asking members of the public to desist from visiting court offices before their respective court dates. Members of the public who do not comply will be turned away,” said the CAD.

People who need information on their court dates may call the CAD at 876-754-8337 or email customerservice@cad.gov.jm or contact the court office.

Public transport operators have highlighted that fines for traffic tickets that are paid in the courts, are likely to be higher than those settled at tax offices.

They made their concern public this week after Tax Administration Jamaica [TAJ], advised late last month that it was unable to continue accepting payments for traffic ticket fines at its tax offices or via its online system.

“This unavoidable challenge is as a result of the finalised list of traffic offence codes not yet being provided to the Revenue Authority to effect changes to its systems to enable collection of the fines as defined by the recent change to the applicable law,” said the TAJ. It advised further that the respective agencies were working to address the problem as quickly as possible.

The TAJ was referring to changes that were made to the old Road Traffic Act on November 5 to give legality to provisional tax orders signed by then Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr Omar Davies, in 2006 and 2007 that allowed for the increase in traffic fines. Provisional tax orders only last six months yet the Parliament, over nearly 15 years, did not amend the relevant law that would have made the increased fines legal.

Transport operators are urging the Government to suspend the issuing of traffic tickets until the problem is rectified.