RIYADH — The Ministry of Interior announced on Thursday the extension of the grace period for the payment of a 50 percent reduction in accumulated traffic fines for another six months. This is in implementation of the directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi Press Agency reported. According to the directive of the highest authorities, the new grace period will end on April 18, 2025. The royal directive came in the wake of the expiry of a previously announced six-month grace period on Friday, October 18, 2024. According to the grace period, announced on April 18, 2024, 50-percent discount in traffic fines allows the perpetrators to make payment of fines either in one lump sum or separately for each violation. As per the previous royal directive, the reduction covered all violations committed before April 18, 2024 and all accumulated traffic fines must be settled within six months starting from April 18 until October 18, 2024 so as to benefit from this reduction. This landmark initiative is designed to alleviate the financial burden on citizens, expatriates, visitors, and GCC nationals by reducing penalties for all violations recorded up to the day before the reduction period begins. The payment of traffic violations appears automatically through the SADAD payment system and the Efaa platform, the General Directorate of Traffic said while warning against dealing with any suspicious links, phone calls, and websites that claim to do the service. According to the royal decree, enforced by the Ministry of Interior, committing any of four specific violations during the reduction period would disqualify offenders from receiving the discount. These violations are drifting, driving under the influence of drugs or banned substances, exceeding the speed limit by more than 50 km/h on roads with a speed limit of 120 km/h, or by more than 30 km/h on roads with a speed limit of 140 km/h. The Ministry of Interior called on all road users to adhere to traffic rules to achieve the requirements of maintaining traffic safety.
