Monday 19 / May / 2025
Muscat: Expatriates can heave a sigh of relief after the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, (MoTCIT), clarified its stance on alleged reports of fines being imposed on expatriates who were ferrying friends to the airport or delivering goods in their private vehicles.
Expatriates had widely expressed their concerns on social media and on various Whatsapp groups and other social platforms on the exorbitant fines being imposed by officials for even “dropping their friend to the airport”.
Times of Oman received several complaints and also came across receipts of OMR 200 fines that people had been penalised for violation of a Land Transport Law.
There were growing fears among expatriate community that friends and families would face a prospect of a heavy fine while dropping or picking a family member of a friend as expatriates driving a car with passengers who are not under the same sponsor were being penalized by the ministry, and also slapped a fine of OMR 200 for the violation.
The rule said that any worker who was carrying goods in his vehicle and that was not for his personal use and for commercial gains will be imposed a fine of OMR 300.
On Sunday, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology issued a statement on social media and said: “The Ministry would like to clarify that the inspection campaigns on land transport, which the ministry has recently begun to implement, aims to ensure compliance with the requirements of the Land Transport Law. The implementation of regulations are to ensure the safety of users of land transport and the safety of goods and to preserve the rights of the parties of land transport carriers (the sender and the consignee).
The ministry added: “The inspection teams came across a number of violations, including violations of the requirements for carrying out transport activities with regard to the transportation of goods and ferrying individuals.”
The statement clarified that the inspection teams have been instructed to ensure that only drivers who violate the provisions of the executive regulations of the Land Transport Law should be fined and that it did not include people who transport their acquaintances and friends without any financial reward.
“If people have been penalized while ferrying their friends or relatives, their grievances can be submitted about the violations for review at the Land Transport Department at the Ministry’s General Office or the Roads Departments in the governorates within 15 days from the date of its issuance,” added the statement from the ministry.
The statement said: “Through these campaigns, the ministry aims to organise the land transport sector and open the way for companies and individuals to invest in this vital sector after obtaining the necessary approvals and permits from the ministry and the concerned authorities.”
The ministry confirmed that the inspection campaigns will continue and urged workers in the sector to adhere to the requirements of the Land Transport Law and its regulations.
