Knowing who should keep the resources generated in Bogotá by traffic fines was an issue that had the Colombian Federation of Municipalities (Fedemunicipios) and the Mayor’s Office of Bogotá at odds for several years, since the parties were unable to reach an agreement and had to escalate the issue to the judicial branch. which this week defined what will happen.
The Administrative Court of Cundinamarca, Third Section, subsection B, in a first instance ruling dated August 30 of this year, denied the claims of Fedemunicipios according to which it sought to collect a percentage of the fines collected with the Integrated Information System on Fines and Penalties for Traffic Violations (Simit) once it is implemented.
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This was announced by the District Treasury Department, which through a statement explained that the decision provides some peace of mind regarding the management of the city’s finances, since it protects the income that the city needs to face times like this, where the priority is to leave the economic slowdown behind.
The entity added that the plaintiff was seeking compensation for damages for the lack transfer of 10% of the value of all fines and penalties for traffic violations imposed since 2002, which, together with interest accrued as of October 2017, amounted to a total of $358.741 billion.
Traffic fines.
“Thanks to a joint legal defense between the District Treasury Secretariat, the District Mobility Secretariat and the District Legal Secretariat, it was possible to demonstrate that those fines and sanctions that territorial entities collect directly, as is the case in Bogotá for a few years now, cannot be subject to a tax by Fedemunicipios since it is not providing any service,” he added.
It is worth noting that according to the Court of Cundinamarca, in relation to the period from 2002 to August 25, 2015 in which SIMIT provided a service to Bogotá, it was made clear that the expiration occurred. That is to say, the period granted by law for the judicial claim for compensation has elapsed.
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“In this regard, the Court stated that unlawful damage was not proven, since the Mayor’s Office of Bogotá has been collecting funds without support or cooperation from SIMIT and that which it supported at the time, it is no longer entitled to, so it does not owe any payment,” indicated the Hacienda Bogotá.
In this way they concluded by indicating that a favorable decision was made for Bogotá.which several years ago began a legal process to demonstrate that it should not transfer resources to Fedemunicipios for the fines it collects directly, thereby achieving significant savings for the District’s assets quantified at more than $350,000 million.
City of Bogota
Bogota City Hall
The Integrated Information System on Fines and Penalties for Traffic Violations is a system that feeds the data reported on fines and penalties for traffic violations, provided by each of the Territorial Transit Authorities and which are delivered to each of the Simit Operation Concessionaires of the different zones (5 operational zones and 1 virtual zone) into which the country was divided.
Although all territorial transit authorities are responsible for ensuring the timeliness of delivery, integrity, veracity and quality of the information provided, it is currently a mechanism regulated by Fedemunicipios, body that represents municipal entities in this task.
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