Road safety operations against EPS ticket defaulters commence tomorrow

The EPS scheme was introduced under Section 165 of the Traffic and Road Safety Act, 1998, to purposely manage minor traffic offenders.

The primary objective of the scheme was to deter road users from committing offences, by levying express penalties, that would help to decongest courts.

"The EPS ticket has 25 codes for traffic offences, whose fines vary, depending on the traffic offence committed. The codes range from Ugx 20.000/= to Ugx 200.000/=, which the offender has to pay or clear within 28 days. Police requires that the offender pays their ticket in a timely manner, as payment automatically leads to closure of the offence," Police spokesman Fred Enanga said.

He added that those who do not know their EPS status, can cross check it, by downloading the UPF Mobi App, on an Android Smartphone and check for it up.

"Motorists can also go to the nearest traffic office, and check for the EPS status while at the station, any traffic officer, with an EPS tracking gadget, can check if your driving permit has an EPS ticket pending payment or not. Arrangements are also in place by the Directorate of ICT, on how to rejuvenate the short SMS code in coordination with the Uganda Communications Commission," Enanga said.

"If you establish that you have a pending EPS ticket, please go to the bank and pay the traffic fine using the EPS Ticket, or on mobile money, Pay way or any Agent banking dealer. Do not ignore to pay a traffic ticket because it is an obligation for a traffic violator or defaulter, to respond to a traffic ticket within the stipulated time. Failure to do so, you will be deemed guilty by the law. As a result, one may face a surcharge for late payment of 50%, or have their motor vehicle impounded, their driving licence not renewed, pending clearance of the traffic ticket or taken to court," he added.

Police urges driver to pay their EPS tickets, adding that those who think they can avoid payment of the traffic ticket, are totally wrong. Police says they have records of all traffic defaulters/violators to the pending EPS arrears of Shs 8bn.

The operations will target vehicles with unpaid EPS tickets, during the stop and search traffic operations, as well as tracking them from the CCTV camera centres, according to Police spokesman.

These operations come in the wake of police announcing earlier that they would publish the list of EPS defaulters in the print and electronic media.