Specifications regarding the application of fines to certain vehicle drivers from the Transnistrian region

Concerning the information circulated in the public space regarding the sanctioning with a fine of the drivers of means of transport from the Transnistrian region which violates the requirements of mandatory auto liability insurance, we specify the following.

The basis for the occurrence of this form of legal liability is art. 229 paragraph (3) of the Contravention Code of the Republic of Moldova, which provides a fine from 30 to 60 conventional units (from 1500 to 3000 lei), with the application of 3 penalty points in the case of driving a vehicle without holding the mandatory civil liability auto insurance policy on paper or in electronic format or in the absence of data accessed from the single information system related to the mandatory auto liability insurance.

These provisions apply to all categories of motor vehicles registered on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, regardless of their registration on the right or left bank of the Nistru River.

Major barriers are encountered with regard to motor vehicle drivers from the Transnistrian region who commit contraventions/offenses in the field of road traffic and cannot be monitored due to the lack of accessible data in the single information systems, including those related to the compulsory civil liability motor insurance.

Cases of driving vehicles with registration numbers issued in the administrative-territorial units on the left bank of the Nistru River or the municipality of Bender, or with neutral registration numbers by persons domiciled in other localities than those of the Transnistrian region are also frequently detected. According to art. 231¹ of the Contravention Code of the Republic of Moldova these situations are also sanctioned with fines, application of penalty points and the deprivation of the legal entities carrying out entrepreneurial activities in Republic of Moldova of the right to carry out a certain activity for a period of 6 months to a year.

A major problem has persisted for several years in relation to vehicles registered and insured in the Transnistrian region and which are involved in road accidents with means of transport registered according to the requirements of the legislation of the Republic of Moldova, including compulsory civil liability motor insurance policies issued by licensed companies in the manner established by law, the drivers of the last category not having the possibility to claim the damages incurred as a result of road accidents because the insurance companies in the eastern districts of the country do not honor their contractual obligations.

Thus, the problems in the sphere of car insurance are generated by factors independent of the activity of law enforcement bodies that intervene with the forms of response established by the normative framework in force, without any discrimination, and which unfortunately constantly encounter artificial difficulties related to the lack of a effective control over the situation in the Transnistrian region.