The government has failed to announce the tender for the collection of fixed penalty fines for the last nine months, creating a loss of at least 150 million Turkish Lira, Yeniduzen reports.
It has been rumoured that the reason for postponing the tender is that the government will grant control of the fixed camera system to ASELAN, a company affiliated with the Turkish Armed Forces.
Minister of Public Works and Transport Erhan Arıklı, who spoke to Yeniduzen, confirmed that the system would be handed to ASELSAN and stated that the contract with the current owner of the speed cameras, the Netherlands-based Sensys Gatso Group, had expired.
However, the Netherlands-based company stated that the contract does not expire until 2026 and that they learned about the proposed agreement with ASELSAN from the media, while Arıklı had ignored their requests to speak to him.
Günay Çerkez, the Director of Air-Kam Trading Ltd, the company responsible for the past five years for distributing fixed speeding fines, said he had submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Economy and Energy but received the response that the government lacked funds.
Çerkez pointed out that the prices offered by the ministry were only slightly lower than a year ago, without considering inflation and costs. He said that he was aware that notification of traffic fines were not being sent, “Citations have not been issued for nine months“, he said, accusing the government of mismanaging the situation.
The issue of the fixed radar system was also addressed in parliament. Republican Turkish Party (CTP) MP Sami Özuslu criticised Arıklı’s statements about the transfer of the fixed radar system to ASELSAN and asked, “Through which tender? Is there a Council of Ministers decision? Is a Council of Ministers decision sufficient?”
Özuslu emphasised that there are a total of 130 fixed radars in the country, with 100 of them currently active. He stated that transferring the contracts for these radars without a tender before their expiration would create legal problems.
Asking how much money had been collected from fixed radar fines in 2023, Özuslu remarked, “Zero Turkish Lira because no tender was held for the delivery of fines to addresses, and as fines are not distributed, there is currently a debt of 150-180 million TL owed by the state that has evaporated“. He argued that this example refutes the claim that there is no source of income for the country.
Özuslu questioned the fate of the fines, whether they would be cancelled or subject to amnesty.
He invited the relevant Court of Auditors to take action on the matter.
Contract Sensys Gatso Group Expires in 2026
According to information obtained by Yeniduzen, the contract for fixed radars with the Dutch company Sensys Gatso Group and the Ministry of Economy and Energy ends in 2026.
Sensys Gatso Group said that it had not received any requests for a meeting from minister Arıklı, and their requests to meet him had not received any response.
Company sources, who learned about the cancellation of the contract from the media and the parliament, noted that no information had been provided to the Dutch company regarding the matter.
Arıklı, who announced that the total amount of fines for undistributed traffic violations is around 60-70 million TL, stated that the specifications are ready, and the tender will be announced shortly. He attributed the delay in the tender to the fact that “We are signing a protocol with ASELSAN“. He said that his department was meeting with ASELAN to agree on a common path.
Noting that ASELSAN will install smart intersection systems and new radars, Arıklı said, “We have an application for the future. We are working on that too. There is a need for a legal arrangement for the violation and fine to be notified to the owner’s mobile phone at the same time the cameras are triggered. We are working on that as well. That’s why it was delayed a bit“.
