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Egypt raises traffic fines up to 100% retroactively

October 12, 2022 at 11:03 am

A major traffic interchange in central Cairo, Abd El-Moneim Riad Square on 24 September, 2017 in Cairo, Egypt [David Degner/Getty Images]

The Egyptian Ministry of the Interior’s Traffic Department has raised fines for traffic offences by up to 100 per cent without introducing an amendment to the ongoing traffic law or obtaining parliamentary approval.

The step sparked anger among Egyptians who criticised the adoption of increases while citizens suffer from a massive wave of price hikes.

The higher fines will go into effect retroactively and will be implemented in two phases: The first covers offences made within the past three months and the second is for offences made since Sunday.

The traffic department raised the fine for driving a car without a seat belt from 100 Egyptian pounds ($5) to 200 Egyptian pounds, a 100 per cent increase. It raised the fine for speeding from 300 to 400 Egyptian pounds, a 33 per cent increase, and for not complying with an officer’s direction from 500 to 600 Egyptian pounds, a 20 per cent increase.

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