Amid inefficiencies with the current National Traffic Information System (NaTIS), the planned roll-out of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) in December is set to further complicate the issuing of fines for car-rental companies.
The Department of Transport announced that it would phase in AARTO, from December 1, starting with 69 municipalities in cities, including Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.
Sandile Ntseoane, GM of Southern African Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association (Savrala), told Travel News that the car-rental industry already faced challenges assigning fines to their clients under NaTIS.
“Traffic fines are often issued via camera enforcement, relying on NaTIS, which Savrala notes is only about 30% accurate,” says Ntseoane. “Many fines are sent to incorrect addresses or outdated vehicle owner records, resulting in returned mail and administrative waste.”
He explains that when fines arrive at car-rental companies, they are typically linked to the vehicle registration and not the driver. The car-rental companies then have to redirect the fine to the renter and charge them an administration fee.
“This process is manual and time-consuming, especially when renter details are incomplete or outdated. So, driver identification is a major issue for car-rental companies.
AARTO impacts
“The AARTO demerit system will introduce a new layer of complexity,” says Ntseoane. “Points are assigned to drivers, not vehicles, which is problematic for rentals where the driver is not the registered owner.”
He notes that AARTO’s implementation will increase the administrative burden for car-rental companies and create potential legal ambiguities around enforcement and liability for the system.
“For foreign customers, the system may not be enforceable unless integrated with immigration or border control systems. Currently, there’s no clear mechanism for tracking or penalising foreign drivers,” says Ntseoane.
He says Savrala is engaging with the Department of Transport to ensure the car-rental industry’s concerns are addressed before full implementation of AARTO.
“Savrala has expressed concern over the lack of readiness and clarity in the AARTO roll-out and the absence of revised regulations. “Savrala is advocating for a dramatic redesign or reconsideration of the system to address practical enforcement issues, especially in the rental sector.”
