Toll system temporarily stopped working: Should fines be cancelled?

On Sunday, July 31, the vignette system stopped working for nearly five hours. Thus, people who decided to travel without a vignette risk receiving a compensation fee of 70 BGN.

On one such occasion on the way to the seaside, a driver complained that he had stopped at various petrol stations in an attempt to pay the BGTOL. But he could not pay because of the broken system. Many other similar reports have already been submitted to the Ombudsman Diana Kovacheva.

"In my opinion it is fair to cancel the compensatory charges for the whole day not just for the period when the system was not working, as 5 hours is a very long period of time. The complainants who approached me said that they repeatedly tried to buy a vignette and then went on their way," Kovacheva said.

The road agency assured that drivers who were unable to purchase an electronic vignette from the time the technical problem was detected – 8.55 in the morning - would not be issued a penalty until the end of the day. The road agency is also awaiting a report from the contractor maintaining the system on the reasons leading to the problem.

Ombudsman Kovacheva, stressed the need for a way to notify drivers, which the 47th National Assembly failed to vote on.

"The problem here is that there is no system to notify drivers early that they have been fined for not having a vignette. One such problem, which I have brought to the attention of Parliament with a legislative proposal, is that in cases where there are erroneous vignettes, people should be notified immediately and the penalties imposed should be retrospectively cancelled," Kovacheva said.

The national ombudsman's office also expects further complaints on the issue. The reason they cite is that not all citizens have found out about the compensatory fee imposed.