Third Phase of 20% Fine Reduction Benefit for Freight Trucks and Construction Machinery Implemented

Extension of 3-Month Advance Payment for Livelihood Drivers to Overcome COVID-19

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 1st that it has decided to extend the prepayment deadline for fines related to violations of operation restrictions on freight trucks, dump trucks, cranes, and other construction machinery by three months, following last year, due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Until now, violators of operation restrictions could receive a 20% reduction on the prescribed fine only if they voluntarily paid the fine within 20 days from the issuance date of the prior notice of fine imposition.

However, with this measure extending the prepayment deadline by three months, the reduction period will increase to 110 days (original 20 days + extended 90 days), allowing violators to receive a 20% reduction even if they pay voluntarily within the extended period.

Last year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport extended the prepayment deadline twice to support livelihood drivers struggling due to the COVID-19 situation. As a result, 20,278 drivers without any operation restriction violations in the past year received a 20% reduction (approximately 9.2 billion KRW).

Although the number of first-time operation restriction violations decreased by about half during this period, the prolonged COVID-19 crisis has made fines an economic burden for livelihood drivers. The number of first-time violators decreased from 4,154 in May last year to 2,226 in November of the same year (a decrease of 1,928, 46.4%).

Accordingly, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport decided to additionally implement the extension of the fine prepayment application period from February 2 to July 31 as part of the government's comprehensive COVID-19 support measures to alleviate the economic burden on the public.

Juhyun Jong, Director of the Road Bureau at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "We hope this third fine payment deferral will provide some help to livelihood drivers, and we urge all drivers who are doing their best in the rapidly increasing logistics transportation due to COVID-19 to comply with the law and drive safely."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.