THE Land Transport Authority loses about 40 per cent of its revenue to the courts. Yesterday, the authority partnered with M-PAiSA offering offenders another method of payment.
LTA chief executive, Naisa Tuinaceva revealed that the authority collected about $1.9million annually from bookings, which he said were used for road safety work.
Vodafone public affairs and M-PAiSA manager, Shailendra Prasad said in most cases people did not have the time to pay the fines and mobile money was an alternative.
Once a ticket is issued, an offender has 21 days to pay the fine and could face legal action if he does not. When the case reaches the courts, whatever fine the offenders pay, it remains the courts revenue.
"It is another technological advancement by LTA for the convenience of our clients. We have been incorporating new technologies in an effort to improve our service by providing greater convenience and accessibility to our services," Mr Tuinaceva said.
"M-PAiSA offers a 24-hour channel to make fine payments to LTA without the need to visit LTA. Most drivers have at some point committed a traffic offence.
"While the ideal scenario would be that every driver follows all aspects of the LTA act so there is no fines to be paid, this is not the reality on our roads. We therefore need to make sure that those who breach traffic laws and subsequently fined are given the convenience to pay their dues in timely manner to avoid legal action."
"Vodafone has been a trusted mobile phone service provider to LTA for 17 years. We are delighted to take this partnership to another level with the launch of the LTA fine payment option via M-PAiSA. The service is available free of charge with no additional cost to the payer," said Mr Prasad.