Some CVA late payment fines to be refunded

Angry motorists who were fined for not paying their Controlled Vehicular Access bill on time will heave a sigh of relief as the company running the scheme has decided to refund some of the fines.

CVA said yesterday it will refund late payment fines for those who settled their bills by last Monday.

Originally, bills had to be settled by the end of September, and those who did not pay were slapped with a minimum fine of Lm2.50.

Irate readers who wrote to The Times complained they encountered difficulties in accessing the CVA website to pay online and shelving their problem for a few days meant they ended up having to pay a fine.

One motorist also complained that, although his bill had to be paid by the end of September, he only received it two weeks earlier.

Moreover, motorists lamented, although the bill points out that late payments will incur a fine, they had not been informed how much this was. As it happened, even motorists who received a bill of 35c were handed a Lm2.50 fine.

The CVA said the due date for bills issued on September 1 have been extended by 15 days, until last Monday, and those who settled their bills in the first two weeks of October will be credited with the late payment fee. It said this credit will be treated as a pre-payment.

The company said it has sent letters to the vehicle owners informing them accordingly.

The CVA said bills are issued in the first week of each month and have to be paid by the seventh of the following month in order to avoid late payment charges.