OSAGO does not come into focus

The head of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, Anatoly Aksakov, asks the government to speed up the connection of traffic cameras to check whether drivers have compulsory motor liability insurance policies. He informs Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin that such a measure will allow regional budgets to receive about 2 billion rubles annually. through collection from fines. The launch of an automatic policy verification system has been discussed for several years. According to Kommersant’s information, the delay may now be due to the need for a comprehensive modernization of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Web information system, which is being carried out as part of the state defense order. Meanwhile, the State Duma is already preparing to adopt in the second reading a bill according to which the traffic police will lose the obligation to check the compulsory motor liability insurance policy when registering cars.

The head of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, Anatoly Aksakov (“A Just Russia – For Truth”), in a letter to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, asks to speed up the process of connecting traffic cameras to the inspection of compulsory motor liability insurance (the fine for violation is 800 rubles under Article 12.37 of the Administrative Code). This was announced on Thursday by the head of the Russian Union of Auto Insurers (RUA) Evgeny Ufimtsev during the Insur-Selling 2024 conference. “Organizationally, everything is ready for the launch of checking the availability of an MTPL policy by cameras,” he assured, explaining that Mr. Aksakov contacted the government at the request insurers. In the letter (“Kommersant” has read the text), the deputy emphasizes that the launch of the new functionality will allow regional budgets to receive about 2 billion rubles annually. through collection from fines. It should be noted that, according to the traffic police, at the end of 2023 there were 25.2 thousand stationary, 3.1 thousand mobile and 900 mobile cameras operating on the roads of the Russian Federation.

Plans to provide road complexes with the function of checking insurance policies, we recall, have been discussed for more than five years. In 2023, a corresponding working group was created from representatives of insurers and the traffic police under the auspices of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. Last August, the situation was discussed during a special meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin.

All technical issues were worked out a year ago, a source in the Ministry of Internal Affairs told Kommersant. Fines for the lack of a policy will most likely be issued no more than once a day – this will require amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses. The exchange of information necessary to identify violators will take place between the traffic police and the National Insurance Information System (it is supervised by the Bank of Russia). The main reason for the delay is that it is necessary to finalize the information system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs “Web” (which accumulates information from all cameras), explained a Kommersant source familiar with the situation. The terms of reference, according to Kommersant’s information, have been ready for a long time, even the action plan has been approved, but the Ministry of Internal Affairs has not yet announced a tender: the process has been paused for reasons beyond the control of the traffic police, although it was planned for 2024. The competition, according to Kommersant’s information, may be complicated by the fact that the comprehensive modernization of the system is taking place within the framework of the state defense order.

Mr. Aksakov, meanwhile, recalls that the State Duma has already adopted in the first reading a bill excluding the check of the “automobile license” when registering a car with the traffic police. Insurers protested (“Kommersant” talked about this), but the document is being prepared for the second reading. Its adoption will lead to a reduction in control over the fulfillment of the obligation of vehicle owners to insure civil liability, Mr. Ufimtsev believes. “Comparable control measures are not being introduced to replace those proposed for exclusion,” Mr. Aksakov shares his concerns. He cites statistics according to which from 2011 to 2020, the share of cases where inspectors detected a driver’s lack of insurance in the overall structure of detected offenses increased from 1.2% to 12.6%. The absolute number of fines under Art. 12.37 has not decreased in recent years, the deputy notes, citing data for 2021: more than 2.79 million decisions were issued.

The Scientific Center for Road Safety of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs published more recent data: in 2022, inspectors issued just over 2.3 million decisions under Art. 12.37 Code of Administrative Offences. Statistics for 2023 for this composition have not yet been published.

The deterioration of control over compulsory motor liability insurance, continues Anatoly Aksakov, leads to the fact that law-abiding drivers become “hostages of the emerging negative situation”: more and more drivers drive without compulsory motor liability insurance, and if they become the culprits of an accident, the injured party can only recover damages from them through the courts.

“The Bank of Russia supports the introduction of control over the availability of MTPL policies using traffic cameras,” the press service of the Central Bank told Kommersant. “It is necessary, first of all, to increase the security of motorists. If all participants in an accident have an MTPL policy, the victim is provided with insurance compensation, and the financial responsibility of the culprit is fulfilled by the insurer.”

Vice-President of the National Automobile Union Anton Shaparin believes that automatic monitoring of cameras can be introduced only after order has been established with compensation for damage under OSAGO, which today often does not cover the cost of repairs.

Ivan Buranov