The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has developed an initiative that should allow citizens to record traffic violations using a mobile phone with a special application installed and send their feedback and information to the traffic police for registration and imposition of fines on traffic violators and those responsible for illegal parking.
In addition to the initiative with the application, amendments to the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses were developed, which should resolve legislative “inconsistencies” associated with the recording of violations by ordinary citizens. This all sounds not bad, but in practice it is not so smooth, more on that below.
Goals of recording traffic violators by citizens
On the territory of the Russian Federation, even without a mobile application, there is already a program in place to record traffic violations and receive information from the population.
Under this program, the initiative person is required to take a photo or video recording of the violation, send it to the traffic police and submit an application. Based on such a statement, traffic police officers are required to carry out an investigation, which includes analyzing the sent materials for falsification, and only after that a law enforcement officer can issue a fine to the offender.
The introduction of a mobile application and the legislative amendments that should accompany it will completely eliminate the possibility of falsification, as well as simplify the procedure for approving the fact of an offense and subsequently issuing a fine.
Can traffic police film on a personal phone?
Yes they can. Including:
- filming is permitted using a separate video camera of a traffic police officer,
- and on the phone camera.
Again, the “proofs” here are quite simple - in 2021 there is no legal act that would prohibit doing this.
But wait! After all, video recording as the process itself and presenting the recording as evidence to the head of the traffic police or in court are different procedures, and they should be regulated by law differently. Everything is just like that.
How to send a photo from your phone and report a violation?
The official mobile application recording traffic violations will work as follows:
- A citizen must install the application from the State Services portal, having previously logged in with his username and password. This is done to identify application users.
- How to complain about a traffic violation? When a traffic violation is detected, the user launches the application and films the fact of an administrative offense so that the car number is clearly and clearly visible, and also so that the fact of the violation can be accurately determined from the footage (for more information about whether ignoring traffic rules is an administrative violation or not, you can find out here).
- Where to send? After filming the violation on a smartphone, the citizen sends the footage to the traffic police, where employees manually evaluate all the data sent and, after analyzing the recording, issue penalties for the offenses.
Important! Since an Internet connection is required to send information and determine the exact geographical location of the shooting location, the fact of connecting to it will be a prerequisite for recording a crime.
What mobile applications help detect violations?
First of all, you need to study the current list of applications for smartphones that allow you to send information about traffic violations almost online. So far, only 3 options have been created:
- SPOT (a simplified version of the system for filing complaints related to violations of parking rules or the condition of the roadway) - through applications, you can submit a statement to the traffic police about problems with road signs - non-compliance with GOST, markings in terrible condition or poor visibility;
- Moscow Assistant (one of the first developments, which is currently intended exclusively for residents of the capital) - here only 3 types of violations can be recorded, including non-payment for parking in a paid parking zone, violation of traffic rules in the area of the prohibition sign and problems with the place where the car stops;
- RosYama (created as a single database to load the coordinates of a road defect that violates the norms of the Russian Federation) - the application asks you to fill out a form on behalf of the user and send a complaint so that the traffic police officers will eliminate the problem within the standard period of 12 days.
The main feature of the mentioned applications is the nuance that if a complaint filed via telephone is not closed, the system automatically generates a similar statement to the prosecutor’s office, which will oblige the court to take appropriate measures. In addition, they can always be downloaded completely free of charge on the iOS and Android platforms.
How the application works
Users should remember that using such applications is very simple. The main thing is that these are official versions, and not pirated copies - then they will not show failures during operation. To begin with, each citizen must install the selected application from the Google Play Store or App Store, as well as through the State Services portal, having previously logged into the site with his username and password. This step is necessary specifically to identify application users.
To complain about a traffic violation, you need to log in and launch the application. The interface is quite clear: usually the program simply asks you to upload the necessary photo or video materials and additionally fill out contact information for communication and clarification of details. It is fundamentally important to record the fact of an administrative offense so that information about the vehicle is as clearly visible as possible, and it would be easy to determine the fact of the violation.
After downloading all the materials, you should send everything to the traffic police - the application will certainly save the layouts of the electronic application and notify you of a successful operation. Next, employees manually evaluate all the data sent and, after analyzing the recordings, issue penalties for offenses. Some applications plan to set up tabs in the future where you can track the status of the application and the public verdict on each case.
Will there be bonuses for filing complaints? Or free?
As of February 2021, there is no decision on whether any bonus will be paid to the citizen who helped fine the offender. At the same time, an initiative is being considered at the government level, according to which the applicant will be paid 10% of the amount of the fine that was issued at his request.
Since 2015, a mobile application “Moscow Assistant” has been operating in Moscow to record traffic violations by citizens, with which you can report violations. Through it, residents of the capital can report violations of parking rules and non-payment of parking in paid parking lots. For this, they are awarded bonuses that can be exchanged for souvenirs or minutes of free parking in the center of Moscow.
How to use the People's Inspector application
This application for recording traffic violations by ordinary citizens was developed on the basis of the Dobrodel service. Users of the service can record:
- unauthorized parking on the lawn or children's play areas;
- throwing garbage bags out of the car;
- blocking the passage for a car.
In order for the culprit to be punished, you need to shoot a short video on your smartphone and send it to the traffic police using the service. The infographics on the mosreg.ru portal clearly explain how to shoot a video so that traffic police officers can see the offense and issue a fine.
Pros and cons of the program
The legislative initiative to introduce a mobile application for recording traffic violations in the everyday life of an ordinary citizen has obvious advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of such a tool include the following:
- The number of recorded offenses will increase, which means that the budget will be replenished by a larger amount and the state will be able to afford to invest more in road infrastructure.
- Citizens of Russia will be able to demonstrate an active civic position and help, within the framework of their powers and competencies, to suppress offenses on the part of road boors.
- Citizens of Russia, thanks to the emerging tool, will be able to increase internal civic responsibility for what is happening around them.
Unfortunately, this initiative is not without its drawbacks, most of which are purely technical:
- According to the current technical specifications for the application, in order to record an offense, a person will have to launch the application using the login and password from the State Services portal. This delay may not allow recording transient violations: driving through a red traffic light, disembarking passengers in the wrong place, and so on.
- The list of violations that can be recorded using the application from the traffic police looks strange. Thus, there are no violations for driving on the sidewalk or the side of the road, and these are the offenses that are easiest to record for a pedestrian.
- The bill does not stipulate the procedure for a citizen to challenge a fine issued to him for violating traffic rules based on an application through a mobile application.
Expert opinion
Suvorov Mikhail
Leading lawyer-partner of the Legal Center
My opinion is twofold. On the one hand, it is good that citizens will be able to actively fight traffic offenders, in particular illegal parking. On the other hand, how can a vehicle owner prove his innocence if his car was driven by another person? Also, a photo of the offender can be taken from an angle in which the “offence” will be visible, although in fact the driver did not violate anything.
8 (800) 350-14-90
How does the Moscow Assistant mobile application work?
If you notice on the road that a car is violating parking rules, then using this application you can record this offense. The application's software environment is configured in such a way that the user himself cannot make personal changes to the recording of such violations.
Using GPS/Glonass satellite navigation, the application records the exact coordinate(s) of the violation, as well as the state license plate of the car, and then sends these materials (photos) about the violation of traffic rules to the information processing center. Well, then the data center staff will issue a resolution to bring the owner of the vehicle to administrative liability.
It is worth noting here that for the safety of the application, this program will not work on Android phones that have already been hacked using root rights.
Also, this application cannot yet record violations on all streets of Moscow. At the moment, such recording of offenses is possible only in those places where there is a paid parking zone.
This application is specially created to improve road safety and is designed to change the consciousness of those drivers who categorically do not comply with the current traffic rules.
In order to attract citizens to actively help comply with traffic rules using this application, the Moscow authorities intend to award certain points to its most active citizens who help record traffic violations on the streets of Moscow, which in the future can be exchanged for some government paid services.
For example, with these points you can subsequently pay for parking in the city of Moscow, or purchase a ticket for public transport, and so on, etc. services.
We are not going to predict that this mobile application will become particularly popular with the residents of the capital over time. Of course, not without this, some citizens will download this application to their phones for the specific purpose of testing it, or for some other interest. The point here is different, that is, that many of our citizens in the country today do not have a very active civic position, and this in turn suggests that few of them will want to directly “knock” on other drivers like this. Our Russian mentality simply will not allow the city authorities of the capital to increase control over the zones of such paid parking lots.
Existing mobile applications for Android and iOS
While the federal government is trying to approve at the legislative level the initiative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to record violations of traffic rules by ordinary citizens through a mobile application, the Moscow authorities and the social project “SPOT” have released their applications. Let's see what they are called and how a complaint message is sent with photos and/or videos recorded online.
Expert opinion
Suvorov Mikhail
Leading lawyer-partner of the Legal Center
Dear readers! When filing a complaint through applications, we advise you not to indicate contact numbers and home address. By law, it is enough to indicate the email address registered in the communication application.
8 (800) 350-14-90
Download SPOT to send violations to the traffic police (formerly traffic police)
The SPOT application works as follows:
- The user launches the application.
- Makes photographic recordings of traffic violations.
- Enters into the form the license plate number of the car that violates the traffic rules.
- Checks the validity of a specific address.
- Select the type of violation from the drop-down list.
- Sends an electronic application to the traffic police by pressing the appropriate button.
Reference! The application form is filled out automatically by the application; a unique email address is generated for submitting the application itself, which allows you to track the status of each individual application. - NIBDD employees consider all incoming applications in accordance with Federal Law No. 40 and Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 707.
And they are required to respond to citizens electronically. This answer comes in the application.
It should be noted that the SPOT application can be downloaded for the two most common mobile platforms: Android and iOS.
How to report illegal parking?
Expert opinion
Zakharov Viktor Yurievich
Practicing lawyer with 8 years of experience. Specialization: family law. Recognized legal expert.
There are various ways to inform the competent authorities about a violation of parking rules. This could be a phone call or personal contact.
This is important to know: Where to complain about police inaction
For greater guarantee, it is necessary to record the violation. The most suitable option is photography. After this, the specified materials are sent to the authorized authority to take action against the violator. In this case, the applicant has the opportunity to learn about the results of consideration of the application.
Taking the correct photo of a parking violation
Taking photographs is the best option to record a violation of parking rules. But it must be correct. It will not be enough to remove only the vehicle itself. A panoramic photograph is required, which should reflect:
- vehicle;
- his state number;
- parking place;
- sign prohibiting parking;
- date and time of the photo.
If such information is available, the photograph will be evidence of the violation.
In addition to the photograph, you must attach information about:
- date and time of the offense;
- the place where the illegally parked car was found;
- vehicle data – make, state registration. numbers;
- type of offense and the violated article of the Code of Administrative Offenses (if the applicant can provide such data).
Determining where to send a photo of a parking violation
After a violation has been recorded, the images must be sent to the authority whose competence includes taking action against violators. This is the traffic police (formerly the traffic police). It is the State Traffic Inspectorate that reviews materials on cases of non-compliance with parking rules, since they are a violation of traffic rules.
You can also file a complaint with your local administration. The submitted materials will be transferred to the traffic police for consideration.
Residents of Moscow and the Moscow region can contact the Moscow Administrative Road Inspectorate (MADI) through the Autocode resource.
We report violations of parking rules to the traffic police
You can send a complaint to the traffic police using various options. First of all, this is a personal appeal. In this case, the applicant independently brings the available materials to the traffic police and files a complaint. The appeal can be both individual and collective. The latter option most often concerns cases where car owners violate parking rules in the courtyard of a residential building.
You can also contact the traffic police remotely. To do this, you need to use the traffic police website. The algorithm of actions of the interested party will be as follows:
- Login to the main page.
- Select the “Services” > “Receive Requests” section.
Read and agree to the terms and conditions, click “Submit an appeal”.
Fill out the form and attach a photo of the violation.
Fill out the captcha and click “Submit request”.
In the “Text of appeal” section you can indicate:
Photos are attached in the attached file.
Based on the above and guided by clause 3, part 1, art. 28.1 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, Federal Law dated May 2, 2006 N 59-FZ “On the procedure for considering appeals from citizens of the Russian Federation”,
- Identify the driver who was driving the vehicle at the time indicated above and initiate proceedings against him for an administrative offense under Part 6 of Art. 12.19 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation
- Give a written response to the request at the specified postal address within the period established by law.
October 01, 2021 Ivanov I.I.
Waiting for a decision
Applications through the website are considered within the time period specified by Federal Law No. 59-FZ of May 2, 2006 and Order No. 707 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia dated September 12, 2003. It is 30 days from the date of registration of the application . The request is recorded within three days from the date of receipt. The period for consideration of a complaint may be extended, but not more than by 30 days. The applicant is notified of this.
The applicant is notified of the results of the consideration of the complaint within the specified time frame. Information about the measures taken against the violator is sent to the applicant’s email in the form of a scanned copy. Information about the stage of consideration of the complaint can be obtained by filling out the standard complaint form and indicating the registration number of the complaint.
