YEREVAN, July 6. /ARKA/. By a vote of 55 the Armenian parliament amended the country's Code of Administrative Offences on July 6, slashing the size of penalty for lack of mandatory car insurance from 100,000 drams to 50,000 drams.

The mandatory insurance against physical damage caused to other cars and individuals became mandatory in the country on January 1, 2011.

However, due to the state of emergency declared in the country in connection with the covid-19 pandemic, as well as the outbreak of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh in  September  2020, the government suspended the application of five thousand dram penalties (about $ 10) for every 10 days of delayed renewal or absence of car insurance policy. On July6, 2022 the suspension was removed and the law became effective again.

"We think that the fine of 100 thousand drams is disproportionate to the nature and the degree of danger of the offense. A fine of 100 thousand drams is quite a heavy social burden today and if we take into consideration that the main reason for the offense is the financial situation of the person, we have to admit that the fine is disproportionate to the violation," said MP Armen Khachatryan, an author of the amendment. ($1 - 408.2 drams). -0-