What Article 240¹ regulates
Article 240¹ of the Code of Administrative Offences of Georgia concerns the powers of the municipal representative body in determining the content of an administrative offence protocol and — in the part that is most practical for you — the fees for moving a vehicle to a special guarded parking place, for clamping its wheels and for storing it there. If your car has been towed away or clamped, it is precisely this norm that determines how much may be demanded of you for these services.
How proceedings are organised at the municipal level
The first part of the norm determines that when certain administrative offences listed in the Code are committed in a sphere assigned to municipal competence, the content of the protocol of the corresponding offence and the rule for issuing it are determined by the representative body of the municipality. At the same time, the content of the protocol may disregard the general requirements for a protocol established by the Code — an exception introduced for the flexibility of municipal proceedings. The representative body is also authorised to designate a structural unit of the city hall, or a natural or legal person, who will record the fact of the offence on video or photo film and forward the material to the body authorised to issue the fine receipt.
A fee is not a fine
It is important to distinguish the fine from the fee: the fine is the penalty imposed for the offence itself, whereas the fees for transportation, clamping and storage are the reimbursement of the costs of those services, whose limits are fixed precisely by this norm. When you receive the receipts, always check how the demanded sum is composed and separate the fine component from the transportation, clamping and storage components. This helps both in controlling the caps and in building a dispute correctly — sums combined in one document often rest on different grounds and must be checked one by one.
Note also that the cap is determined by drawing a line between light and other types of vehicles: for a passenger car, a motorcycle, a quadricycle and a moped the combined cap is 300 GEL, while for all other vehicles it is 800 GEL. Owners of heavy vehicles, buses and special equipment thus fall under a different cap, which reflects the real cost of moving them. Determining the category correctly is therefore also financially significant — an incorrect category directly changes the amount that may lawfully be demanded of you.
The limits on towing and clamping fees
The fourth part of the article caps the fees that the municipal representative body may set. The fee for transporting a vehicle to a special guarded parking place and the fee for clamping the wheels of the vehicle with a special device must, in the case of a passenger car, a motorcycle, a quadricycle or a moped, not exceed 300 GEL, and in the case of any other type of vehicle — not exceed 800 GEL. This limit is defined as a combined whole: the transportation fee and the clamping fee together must not exceed that amount.
The daily cap on the storage fee
The storage fee at the special guarded parking place is counted by days. In the case of a passenger car, a motorcycle, a quadricycle or a moped it must not exceed 20 GEL per day, and in the case of any other type of vehicle — 100 GEL per day. A practical conclusion follows: every day the car is left at the parking place adds to the sum, so retrieving it as quickly as possible is worth it. Conversely, if you are demanded more than the cap, that directly contradicts the law and you can use the complaint mechanism.
What to do if your vehicle has been towed
First establish where your vehicle is — for that, contact the relevant municipal service. Then verify what sum has been imposed and under which component: transportation, clamping or storage, and compare it with the limits given above. Request payment documents and keep every receipt. Make sure that the capped sum is not inflated by other charges not provided for by this norm. Such simple steps considerably strengthen your position if a dispute later arises. If you need the car urgently, start the release procedure immediately: you can dispute the amounts later, but every extra day at the parking place adds to the storage fee.
How Legal.ge can help you
The lawyers of Legal.ge will help you verify the legality of the fees, assess the correctness of the towing and storage charges and, if necessary, prepare a complaint. If the vehicle was taken to the parking place unlawfully, we will protect your interests in dealings with the municipality and the court. We will also check whether the category of your vehicle has been determined correctly, since the applicable cap depends precisely on it. For a detailed consultation, contact us at Legal.ge.