Tender for Traffic Camera Fines in TRNC to Conclude by End of September

In Northern Cyprus, the ongoing issue with collecting fines for traffic violations detected by fixed cameras continues. The current tender process for handling these fines is expected to be completed by the end of September.

This update was announced by Erhan Arıklı, the Minister of Public Works and Transport, on his social media page.

In his post, the minister addressed comments from Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (CTP) MP Sami Özuslu regarding fixed fines for traffic radar offenses. Arıklı confirmed that the tender process will be concluded by the end of September.

The controversy over fines from traffic cameras erupted in Northern Cyprus late last year. Since February 2023, no speed violation fines have been issued in the TRNC.

Reports indicate that there are 130 fixed radars in the TRNC, 100 of which were active at the time. However, no Turkish lira was collected from these cameras in 2023, and the government was unable to conduct a tender for enforcing fixed fines.

A necessary tender for the delivery of notifications was announced at the end of May.

"This year, we announced the tender once again. Unfortunately, one company lodged a complaint with the competition authority. After several months, the competition board decided to cancel the results of the tender. As a result, a new tender was announced, which will be completed by the end of September. As you can see, resolving this issue has been delayed for reasons beyond our control," the minister stated.

Previously, MP Sami Özuslu claimed that the state treasury had lost about 300 million lira due to the issues with fines from fixed cameras. Additionally, Özuslu argued that because fines were not effectively issued, "the system lost its deterrent effect," leading to an increase in traffic accidents across the country.