Fine amnesty: 40% off Auto Expreso and marbete debts

It is a temporary 40% discount on old administrative traffic-fine debts: Auto Expreso fines for unpaid tolls, expired marbete faults and other administrative faults under Act 22-2000. The discount applies to the total — principal, interest, surcharges and penalties — not just the original fine.

Every driver, without limitation as to their licence category, who owes fines for these administrative faults; every motor vehicle owner whose title certificate or permit reflects the debt; and anyone acting on their behalf. Public officials holding elective posts and government officials whose appointment requires legislative confirmation are not eligible.

• That the fine have been duly processed and be reflected in the DAVID PLUS System, or any other system implemented by DTOP, on or before the Act’s approval. The discount does not include fines imposed after that date.Verified against the official source
• Paying the entire debt: the discount is granted to whoever pays the whole amount, not a part.Verified against the official source
• For Auto Expreso, paying all owed tolls at the moment of requesting the discount. The discount applies only to the fine amount, not to the toll.Verified against the official source
• Not being a public official in an elective post or a government official whose appointment requires legislative confirmation.Verified against the official source

• The law publishes no document list and no form. It orders Treasury and DTOP to adopt the necessary regulations within forty-five days, and it is those regulations that set the actual mechanism.

1. 1

   Step 1: First of all: confirm the window is still open

   Article 5 sets the window at one hundred twenty (120) days counted from the effective date of the regulation ordered in Article 6, and that article gave Treasury and DTOP forty-five (45) days to adopt it. The Act never writes a calendar date, so from its text alone you cannot tell whether the window is still open. Ask DTOP or a Driver Service Centre before counting on the discount.

2. 2

   Step 2: Know which debts it covers

   Three lines: fines for non-payment at Auto Expreso toll stations; administrative faults relating to expired motor vehicle or trailer permit rights, that is the marbete; and other administrative faults contemplated in Act 22-2000. In all three, the discount applies to the total, including principal, interest, surcharges and penalties.

3. 3

   Step 3: The discount is 40% of the total

   Article 3 sets it at forty per cent (40%) of the entire debt, including principal, interest, surcharges and penalties. It is a percentage of the accumulated total, not just the original fine, which is what makes it worthwhile on old debts.

4. 4

   Step 4: For Auto Expreso, the toll is paid in full

   This is the surprising exception. For administrative fines from non-payment at Auto Expreso toll stations, the discount applies only to the fine amount, while any toll owed must be paid in full. Whoever takes it must pay all owed tolls at the moment of requesting the discount.

5. 5

   Step 5: If you take the discount, there is no payment plan

   Article 3 itself provides it: the citizen who requests the discount may not take a payment plan for the remainder of the debt after the discount. That is, you need the money to pay the remaining sixty per cent at once.

6. 6

   Step 6: Where to pay

   The law names the points: the collection offices of the Driver Service Centres, new points of sale, banks, cooperatives and municipalities of Puerto Rico.

7. 7

   Step 7: While it runs, you can renew your licence unrestricted

   Article 4 provides that during the incentive’s term, every citizen who takes it may renew their driver’s licence with no restriction whatsoever as to its expiry term. It is the piece that helps someone whose licence was stuck because of debts.

At the collection offices of the Driver Service Centres, new points of sale, banks, cooperatives and municipalities of Puerto Rico. DTOP implements the mechanisms and the law orders it to widely publicise the terms in the media.

• Going to pay without confirming the window: it is one hundred twenty days from a regulation the Act does not date, and it may have lapsed.
• Believing the Auto Expreso toll is discounted too: the discount applies only to the fine; the toll is paid in full.
• Counting on a payment plan for the rest: taking the discount expressly excludes it.
• Expecting it to cover a recent fine: it covers only those processed and reflected in the system on or before the Act’s approval.
• Thinking you must be the driver: it also applies to the vehicle owner whose debt appears on the title or permit, and to anyone acting on their behalf.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Transportación y Obras Públicas (DTOP)

  DTOP

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov