Qatar’s Ministry of Interior (MoI) announced that starting Sunday, September 1, people who have not paid their traffic fines will be stopped from leaving Qatar through any of its borders via land, sea, or air.

Authorities have given offenders time until today (August 31) to settle their fines through Metrash2 application, MoI website, traffic sections, or unified service centres, with a 50% discount. The discount includes violations recorded within up to three years.
Earlier, the MoI had reminded people that a permit must be obtained from the General Directorate of Traffic for mechanical vehicles to exit Qatar as per the prescribed form.

The following conditions also have to be met:

* The vehicle must not have any outstanding traffic violations.

* The final destination (point of arrival) for the mechanical vehicle must be specified.

* The applicant for the permit must be the owner of the vehicle or present proof of the owner's consent for the vehicle to exit the country.

The MoI said that the following vehicles were exempt from the requirement for a vehicle exit permit:

* Vehicles bound for the GCC countries (point of arrival) provided they have no traffic violations, and the driver is either the owner or has the owner’s consent.

* Goods transporting vehicles.

Rules were also announced for the return of vehicles with Qatari plates from abroad:

* Return vehicles outside the country within 90 days from the date of announcement of new rules and procedures before applying them unless the owner obtains a permit from the licensing authority for the vehicle to remain abroad for a specified period or periods.

* Return the vehicle permitted to leave the country before the permit expires, with the possibility to renew the permit for a further period or periods.

In case of violating the aforementioned rules and procedures, legal actions will be taken, including the administrative impoundment of the vehicle for up to 90 days.

Effective from the date of the announcement, mechanical vehicles outside the country will not be allowed to renew their registration unless the vehicle undergoes a technical inspection inside the country.

If the registration is not renewed within the legal period (30 days from the expiration date), the vehicle owner must return the license plates to the General Directorate of Traffic. Failure to return the plates will result in referring the violator to the Public Prosecution for its procedures, according to Article (95) of the mentioned Traffic Law, which stipulates imprisonment for not less than one week and not more than one year, and a fine of not less than QR3,000 and not more than QR10,000 or either of these penalties.

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