A fine arrived without a digital signature from a traffic police officer. What to do: pay or not pay?

On the way home, as always, you looked into the mailbox and saw a postal notice that there was a registered letter in the mail in your name. If you have a car that you use every day in the city and beyond, then most likely this is a “chain letter” about a fine. About the fine that was recorded automatically. You must receive a letter in the mail, but as for paying the fine, let’s figure it out...

When you receive a fine receipt, pay attention to whether it contains the digital signature of a traffic police officer. The fact is that the absence of one is a violation and makes the receipt legally invalid. The decision on this was made by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, considering the claim of a driver from Novosibirsk, who received a paper copy of the fine order without the digital signature of a traffic police officer.

According to Article 28.6 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, when an administrative offense is detected under Chapter 12 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, recorded using special technical means operating in automatic mode that have the functions of photography and filming, video recording, or means of photography and filming, video recording, a protocol on the administrative offense is not compiled.

In this case, the resolution in the case of an administrative offense is made without the participation of the person against whom the case of an administrative offense has been initiated, and has the following features when drafting:

the resolution takes the form of an electronic document, the legal force of which is confirmed by an enhanced qualified electronic signature in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation;
The resolution is accompanied by materials obtained using special technical means operating in automatic mode that have the functions of photography, filming, video recording, or means of photography, filming, and video recording;
copies of the resolution in the case of an administrative offense and materials obtained using special technical means operating automatically, having the functions of photography, filming, video recording, or means of photography, filming, video recording, are sent by registered mail within three days from the day the said decision was made.

In the Resolution of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 67-AD14-5 dated 08/04/2014, special attention was paid to the fact that without an electronic signature confirming the legal validity of materials obtained using special technical means operating automatically, a fine receipt will be invalid, since it is impossible to establish whether the decision was made by the proper official or not.

Did you send the resolution without a photo? It is illegal!

...In the vast majority of cases and from a formal point of view. Let's explain in more detail!

The fact is that the Code of Administrative Offenses stipulates that all materials from auto-recording cameras must be sent to the driver along with a copy of the resolution. And these materials include photographic and video evidence, and within fairly strict limits.

Let us explain the sequence of such judgments at the official legislative level.

Article 26.8 of the Code prescribes that all materials of the case are reflected in the decision - photographs are among such materials,
Article 28.6 establishes that the traffic police fine, along with the case materials, must also be sent to the driver who committed the fine, but it can also be sent via the Internet if he is registered with the State Services and has given consent. As a result, the photo is again required in the resolution.
GOST R 57144-2016, which regulates the operation of automatic fixation devices, says that a photograph is required (clause 6.5.1).

It would seem that everything is extremely clear. In particular, a violation of the imposition of punishment may occur in cases of the following violations:

penalties for incorrect parking (including from MADI) - in this situation, if you receive fines without a photo, this is especially true when appealing
for speeding - what to do with such a fine, we will explain below,
for stop lines, traffic lights, insurance and other traffic violations.

But the absence of photographic material is not always illegal! The fact is that we are interested in the practical side of the answer, what to do if you receive a fine without a photo from an auto-fixing camera.

But from a practical point of view, we first need to discard false information about such a fine, which becomes such until it reaches us. Simply put, it often happens that a photograph is simply lost during the reporting process.

Amount of fine for video and photo recording

The traffic police fine came, but I wasn’t there, what should I do?

The fine for speeding cameras depends on how severe the speeding was in the camera's coverage area. If the car exceeded the speed by 20 km/h or less, no financial punishment will follow, although the situation described refers to a traffic violation. In other cases, the following penalties apply:

At 20–40 km/h you will have to pay a minimum amount of 500 rubles.*
40–60 km/h entails an increase in the amount to 1000 rubles.* If the situation repeats, the amount will already be 2000 rubles.*
At 60–80 km/h, a fine of 2,500 rubles* will be imposed; the second and subsequent violations will lead to a 2-fold increase in the amount.
If the excess is more than 80 km/h, you need to pay 5,000 rubles for the violation*, regardless of whether it is a repeated violation or not.

Important! These standards apply only to cases with photographic recording. In other situations there will be completely different punishments for neglecting the established rules. Serious excess may result in the loss of your driver's license.

If there is no photographic material when checking online

And the solution to the question of what to do when receiving a fine from a camera without a photo in the vast majority of cases is found here.

A common situation during verification is that there are photographic materials on file against you, but you simply do not see them, because the photos are not displayed in the service for checking fines. Or it may be that there is no fine at all, but more on that below.

On State Services

Here, all fines when searching both by car license plate and driver’s license are displayed without photos very often. Instead, the official website of the State Administration suggests that you familiarize yourself with the details on the traffic police website.

In applications and on unofficial sites

If you check for fines on various services and smartphone applications, there is also a high probability that the decision will be displayed without a photo.

And the reason for this is simple - the developers did not technically implement the ability to pull photos from the database provided by the traffic police.

If you check your debts to the state not on the official websites and services of the traffic police, then you haven’t even received a fine without a photo yet. It is necessary to be guided by the legal requirements for notifying drivers of decisions made against them.

On the official website of the traffic police

But here the punishment will most likely be displayed with the available photographic materials. And if you think that you received a fine without a photo, viewing it through the State Traffic Inspectorate service, then there is reason to think about it.

But in the vast majority of cases, on the traffic police website you will be shown information that the request for photographic materials is not available - no one will directly write that the photo is simply missing.

What to do if there is no photo

If a copy of the resolution has not yet arrived by mail, and you found the fine on a third-party website, then wait for an official letter from the traffic police. If it does not contain photographs, then such a fine can be considered illegal. However, this does not happen often.

In such a situation, the fine can be appealed. At the same time, make a request in an official letter to the authority from which the resolution came. Perhaps they will answer you that there are no photographs, or, on the contrary, they will attach them. Then you won't be able to challenge the fine . In any situation, before receiving a response, send a complaint so as not to miss the appeal deadline, which is established by law - 10 days from the date of receipt of the documents.

I received an official letter, but no photo - is it legal?

It is the mailing of a copy of the resolution, which comes to you by registered mail (in practice, often simple - to the mailbox) that is the official notification of the new fine.

But let’s be honest: if you received a resolution from a camera in an official paper letter without photographs, then this is a very rare situation. Make sure once again that this is indeed a decree on auto-fixation, and not a regular one sent to you by mail, issued in the traffic police office, or that this is not a protocol at all. And the photo in the fine from the camera is required by law.

Let us once again explain the logical chain of legislation for 2021.

All decisions sent to the driver regarding automatic fixation must necessarily include materials obtained using this method.

Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation Article 28.6.
Copies of the resolution in the case of an administrative offense and materials obtained using special technical means operating automatically are sent to the person against whom the case of an administrative offense has been initiated by registered mail in the form of a copy of the resolution on paper...

The fact that such indications must contain a photo is already indicated in GOST R 57144-2016 “Special technical means operating in automatic mode. General technical requirements".

For speeding, running red lights, stop lines and other immediate violations of the Rules, the following rule applies:

At least 2 consecutive photographic images of a vehicle in the control zone with an interval of at least 0.1 s, which record the moments of the commission of an administrative offense by the driver of this vehicle, with a fully recognized state registration plate.

For parking violations:

A photograph showing a vehicle stopped in a place where parking or stopping is prohibited.
A photograph showing a vehicle stopped in a place where parking is prohibited, more than 5 minutes after the first detection or the time interval indicated on road sign 8.9, but not more than 1 day.

But there is an important subtlety - the GOST indicated and cited above is not binding, but only advisory. But this changes practically nothing - the instructions for each device contain similar instructions, and they must be followed when installing cameras.

In what cases can you appeal a fine from a traffic police camera?

Below is a list of violations in the operation of installations for recording violations, which should be referred to during legal proceedings:

The video recorder was not visible. In accordance with the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 185 of 03/02/2009, the camera cannot be hidden, as the document itself states, the work of the traffic police must be open and transparent. That is, according to current legislation, law enforcement officers cannot hide a camera in the bushes, for example, or in the trunk of their car;
The video recorder stood behind a road sign that was installed temporarily. According to the current legislation, such actions by authorities are prohibited, however, such cases do occur;
There are no markings on the controlled section of the road. This point will apply to cases where the camera records crossing the stop line. A fine received under such circumstances will be declared invalid by the court;
The speed limit sign is only on the side of one road. Taking into account the current rules and regulations, signs indicating the speed of movement must be located on both sides of the road, where there is more than one lane in one direction.

If you find yourself a victim of such a violation by the traffic police, be sure to defend your rights in court. In these circumstances, the judicial authority takes the side of the vehicle owner.

What to do?

If you have not yet received an official copy of the resolution, and you saw a traffic police fine without a photo on any service, then you need to wait for the paper letter.

If the paper copy does not contain photographic materials, then it is illegal. But, as we indicated above, there were practically no such cases.

In the latter case, the fine is subject to appeal. But at the same time, formally request photographic materials from TsAFAP, MADI or another body that issued this decision. Perhaps you will receive an answer that there are none. Or they will send you materials, and then there will be no point in challenging the fine.

In any case, before responding to your request, file a complaint against the decision, since while waiting for a response you may miss the appeal period, which on May 24, 2021 is only 10 days from the date of receipt of a copy of the decision.

The grounds for appeal are exactly the same as those indicated above in the form of references to legislation, and the sequence of arguments in the complaint should be as follows:

photographic material is required, according to the instructions for the measuring instrument (it is highly advisable to find such instructions on the Internet and quote the paragraph on the availability of photos) and according to paragraph 5.6.1 of GOST R 57144-2016,
the materials must be sent to the person in respect of whom the decision was made, on the basis of Article 28.6 of the Code of Administrative Offences,
evidence of an offense, based on the above, was obtained illegally, and within the meaning of Part 3 of Article 26.2 of the Code, such evidence cannot be used,
Part 2 of Article 1.5 indicates that a person is considered innocent until his guilt is proven in the manner prescribed by law.

Arbitrage practice

But the point is also that the judge can evaluate evidence based on personal beliefs, giving it a certain weight subjectively. And if, for example, the decree with a fine does not contain only a photo, but contains an address with the coordinates of the offense and other data, then the complaint may be refused.

However, in judicial practice, neither in 2021 nor previously, there have been cases of attempting to challenge a fine that does not contain a photo of the car. There are only decisions and resolutions with low-quality photographs or unrecognized vehicle license plates on them.

For example, in one of the decisions of the Kostroma court, the person considering the case did not take into account the fact that the Cordon auto-fixation tool provided for 2 photos, but only one was taken.

The procedure for receiving notifications of traffic police fines

There have been video cameras on the roads for many years. A person who violates traffic rules may believe that his offense went unnoticed, but what is happening on the road is always recorded. The driver learns about the imposed administrative penalty through a notification.

The process of obtaining data on traffic violations:

information from the cameras is read and sent to the traffic inspection department;
the specialist prints out the photo and draws up a resolution;
documents are sent by mail according to the place of registration of the owner of the vehicle.

This method is not always convenient, since the letter may be lost, the system may incorrectly identify the car, or it may turn out that the driver lives in another place. Any citizen with a mobile phone with Internet access can instantly find out about penalties. You can receive a notification in several ways:

to a mobile phone number in the form of SMS;
by email;
through the government services portal;
other types of mobile applications.

Each option is convenient in its own way and does not require special knowledge. Anyone can connect them. The main thing is to correctly understand how to receive notifications of traffic police fines by email or SMS.

Such methods are quite convenient, since everyone has a mobile communication device at hand. That is why at the government level it was decided to develop an alert about traffic police fines via SMS and email.

All portals containing information about collections have a convenient interface that allows you to quickly find the required information (official pages save the initially entered data and when you re-use the service, the fields are filled in automatically). Therefore, questions about how to ensure that traffic police fines are sent by email or SMS should not arise.

Responsibility for late payment

Often, motorists forget about the obligation to pay a fine, without thinking about what consequences this may lead to. Many may simply forget about their violation. If the driver does not pay the penalty within the period provided by law, his fine will increase to double the amount. The law allows the use of punishment in the form of detention for up to 15 days or undergoing special labor for a period of no more than 50 hours.

Important note!

This article provides basic information, but each case is different.
In 92% of all situations there are important nuances that can affect the outcome of the entire case.
An experienced lawyer will study all the materials of the case and indicate in which direction to move.

Therefore, our website employs on-duty legal consultants who delve into each case and are aimed at solving it.

Ask a Question

or consult toll-free (Moscow), (St. Petersburg), 8 (all of Russia).

Why can orders come without photos?

But let’s point out the most important thing – fraudulent letters. Their practice is only gaining momentum in 2021, but the essence is this: under the guise of a regular traffic police fine, you receive a letter that is very similar to the official one, but with payment details that differ from the traffic police. Thus, the attacker hopes that you will not carefully read the letter and simply pay using the specified details.

Needless to say, there cannot be a photo of the violation in such a letter!

The second option is if you received a fine based on photographs of citizens with an active position - that is, someone complained about you. In such cases, photos of violations are rarely sent. But the decision itself was not made using a self-recording camera, but in an “office” way - simply based on a complaint with photographic evidence. An example of such a fine is the “People's Inspector” application. Here is an example of a fine issued with its help:

By the way, such fines can also be appealed very easily - in the complaint you indicate that you were not driving the car and do not indicate who was, referring to the articles of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Thus, the fine against you should be canceled, and the lack of a photo does not play any role here.

What fines are most often issued without evidence?

On the roads of Russia in 2021, the actual absence of photos or videos of violations from the traffic police inspector is practiced quite often. The most common violations and prosecutions for them include:

a fine for not allowing a pedestrian to pass, where the inspector has neither a photo/video recording of the violation, nor the testimony of the pedestrian himself, nor witness testimony,
deprivation of rights for crossing a solid road - moreover, we are talking not only about overtaking through a solid road without video confirmation, but also about a motorist leaving the intersection when he touches a solid road,
a fine for a belt also without proof of violation,
driving on a red light (in some cases it also involves deprivation of the right to drive),
and even speeding without being detected by a special radar.