The Ministry of Internal Affairs proposed to deprive drivers who try to hide their license plates from cameras

The Ministry of Internal Affairs intends to tighten sanctions against drivers who try to hide license plates from cameras in order to avoid paying fines or using toll roads for free. For the use of devices that hide or mask license plates, an unalternative deprivation of rights of up to 1.5 years is introduced. We are talking about special frames on which the numbers are attached: remotely controlled devices turn the signs over, making them invisible to the camera. For the same period, those who regularly travel without license plates will also lose their licenses. The number of violations described is growing year by year, the police department explained, which means that the current punishment is ineffective.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs posted on regulation.gov.ru draft amendments to Art. 12.2 Code of Administrative Offences. The current version stipulates a fine of 500 rubles. for unreadable dirty numbers, in the other part – a fine of 5 thousand rubles. or deprivation of rights for up to three months for driving a car without license plates, with “modified” license plates or devices that allow them to be hidden from cameras. We are talking about the so-called upside-down frames: at the moment of driving under the camera, by pressing a button from the interior, the state registration sign is turned over or hidden. The Ministry of Internal Affairs proposes to separate such a violation into a separate unit with an enhanced sanction – deprivation of rights for a period of 1–1.5 years with confiscation of “devices.” The same amendments introduce unalternative deprivation of rights for up to 1.5 years for repeated driving without license plates within a year.

In the explanatory note, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reports that the sanction under Part 2 of Art. 12.2 has not been revised for 16 years, and number of offenses identified for this type of offense in recent years has been consistently high:

• in 2018 – 70.5 thousand,
• in 2019 – 80.4 thousand,
• in 2020 – 93.4 thousand,
• in 2021 – 110 thousand,
• in 2022 – 102.8 thousand,
• for ten months of 2023 – almost 92 thousand.

This, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, indicates “the insufficient effectiveness of the current model of legal regulation”: “In the context of the development of modern technical means that easily make it possible to hide or modify state registration marks, it is relevant to increase the effectiveness of combating illegal acts.” The police explain the choice of sanction by the fact that hiding license plates makes it difficult or eliminates the possibility of identifying violators’ vehicles, prevents their detection using cameras, and also “creates preconditions for non-compliance with traffic rules.”

Note that frames are usually used (or driven without license plates) in order to avoid paying fines or paying toll roads where the Free Flow system operates (TsKAD, M-12).

Retired traffic police captain, founder of the public project “Overheard at the Traffic Police,” Valentin Ilyinov supported the new norm. “There are a lot of cameras now (there are more than 25 thousand of them in the Russian Federation; more than 180 million decisions are made with their help every year.— “Kommersant”), quite expectedly, drivers are trying to find a way to evade responsibility,” he says. “I don’t see any problems with confiscation – this will be done by court decision, and the traffic police officer will confiscate the devices and dismantle them. This practice is already in effect based on illegally installed special signals (their confiscation is already provided for today by the Code of Administrative Offenses.— “Kommersant”)”. Vice-President of the National Automobile Union Anton Shaparin also supported the initiative. “After the amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses, it is necessary to criminalize the devices themselves and completely ban them for sale,” he believes. “It is also necessary to review the practice of the traffic police in identifying such violators. Personally, I see cars with frames on the roads quite regularly, once every two to three days.”

The Ministry of Internal Affairs proposes unalternative deprivation of rights also for “modified” license plates, draws the attention of the President of the Moscow Collegium for the Legal Protection of Car Owners, Viktor Travin. He recalls that this term was disclosed in 2019 by a resolution of the plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation: a piece of paper, cardboard, foliage, dirt, snow, placed on the number specifically so that cameras would not read it, is also considered a “modification.” “It is almost impossible to prove or disprove intent,” says Mr. Travin. “A leaf could fly on the highway and stick to the license plate, and snow could get from a snowdrift – the driver may not even know about it. Inspectors will insist that this was done on purpose, and the courts usually trust them. It will be a very corrupt composition.” Confiscation of devices is unlikely to reduce the number of drivers using frames; they will buy new ones and continue driving, says Victor Travin. These devices are on open sale: Kommersant today found several offers on Wildberries and Ozon for 5-10 thousand rubles. Previously TASS reported that the prosecutor’s office obtained through the court a ban on the sale of such frames on Aliexpress, now there are no advertisements on the portal.

Ivan Buranov