According to a new bill by the Ministry of Digital Governance, the proceeds from traffic fines—whether issued through cameras or direct police checks—will no longer be collected exclusively for local authorities, as was previously the case, but will be redirected to the social insurance funds of uniformed personnel in the Police and the Army.
Responsibility for the installation and operation of the new camera systems will fall to ODYSSEAS (Road Supervision and Safety Systems Agency), a newly established body under the Ministry of Transport. The agency will also be staffed with police officers seconded to it, according to Avgi.
Local government bodies (municipalities, communities, and regions) will be entitled to a share of the revenue only if they install the cameras themselves.
The cameras will issue AI-based fines for speeding, red light and stop sign violations, mobile phone use, and illegal parking or stopping, among other offences. Alternatively, municipalities may install cameras within their jurisdictions after submitting a formal request to ODYSSEAS.
Athens Mayor Haris Doukas noted that municipalities are being deprived of about €50 million, part of which previously funded road safety and infrastructure works.
“In a regulation unique in Europe, the government removes vital resources from municipalities—funds used to finance road safety projects and interventions—and reallocates them primarily to the Welfare Funds of Police Officers, City Police Employees, Security Forces personnel, and the Army Share Fund. What’s more, before cutting off municipalities from these revenues, the law had already tripled the fines,” he said pointedly.
Sources: Αυγή, Δήμος Αθηναίων
What is fyi.news?
