What Article 135² regulates
Article 135² of the Code of Administrative Offences of Georgia establishes liability for driving a heavy vehicle, within the administrative boundaries of the municipality of Tbilisi on a public-use automobile road, at a place or at a time that does not correspond to what has been determined by the representative body of the Tbilisi municipality. Traffic in a large city is already dense, and heavy vehicles additionally slow it down, damage the road surface and reduce the overall level of safety. This is why the representative body of the Tbilisi municipality determines where and when such vehicles may move, and a breach of those determinations constitutes an administrative offence.
Who is covered by the norm
The first part of the article targets vehicles of categories M3, N2, N3 and T — these are heavy-vehicle categories covering large buses, heavy lorries and special equipment. The offence is committed when such a vehicle moves at a place and/or at a time that does not correspond to the place and/or time determined by the representative body of the Tbilisi municipality. The restriction may accordingly concern either parameter: a particular district, street or section of road, as well as particular hours of the day. Drivers of heavy vehicles therefore need to know not only the route geometry but also the time windows in which their category is admitted on the streets of the capital.
The amounts of the fines
The fine for the violation provided for by the first part of the article is 1,000 GEL. If the same act is committed by a person who has already been subjected to administrative penalty for this offence, the fine increases to 3,000 GEL. The third part of the article treats as a separate element driving for the purpose of delivery or transfer of goods intended for use in the entrepreneurial activity of the recipient — in that case the fine is likewise 1,000 GEL, and on repeated commission 3,000 GEL. This structure shows that the legislature keeps both transit movement and business-related deliveries under the same control, and the increase of the fine on repetition — threefold, from 1,000 to 3,000 GEL — applies equally to both. It is useful to note how repetition is framed: the increased fine applies to a person who has already been subjected to administrative penalty for an offence under this article, so each new violation after a penalty means the higher amount. For businesses making regular deliveries in the capital, route planning and awareness of the municipal determinations thus become a matter of direct cost management rather than a mere formality.
Who is not covered by the restriction
The norm contains important exceptions. The operation of the first and second parts does not extend to vehicles moving for the purposes of the activity of a public institution; to vehicles of operational or special services equipped, under Georgian legislation, with a blue or a blue-and-red flashing special signal; to M3 category vehicles performing regular passenger transport within the administrative boundaries of the municipality; and to passenger transport connected with the activity of educational institutions, when children, pupils, students or staff of the same institution are being carried. Moreover, the restriction does not affect a vehicle for which the appropriate consent has been issued by the structural unit of the Tbilisi municipality city hall or by a legal person founded by the municipality, provided the vehicle moves in accordance with that consent. The representative body is also authorised to determine the goods or the vehicles to which the third and fourth parts do not apply.
Non-payment of the fine and the surcharge
If a fine imposed under this article is not paid within the period determined by the Code, the offender is charged a surcharge equal to the amount of the fine, so that the sum payable in fact increases. If the fine and the surcharge remain unpaid within 30 days from the imposition of the surcharge, measures to secure payment are carried out against the offender in the manner established by Georgian legislation. Paying the fine quickly is therefore always the cheaper way out of the situation.
When the owner cannot be identified
An important detail: if, at the moment the offence is committed, the holder of the vehicle cannot be identified, administrative liability falls on its owner. In the cases determined by the Code, the owner is the corresponding person defined by other provisions of the Code. This means that leasing out or handing over a vehicle does not relieve the owner of attention — the owner should know who, where and when drives by means of his or her vehicle.
How Legal.ge can help you
If administrative proceedings under this article are under way against you, or a fine has already been imposed, the lawyers of Legal.ge will examine whether the norm has been applied correctly, verify whether the exceptions extend to your case and assess the legality of the surcharge. For a detailed consultation, contact us at Legal.ge.