Parliamentary committee blocks budget for traffic camera system upgrade

On September 21, 2026, the Parliamentary Committee on Finance in Cyprus postponed its decision regarding a 146,000 euro budget allocation intended to upgrade the "Photo Radar List" system. The funds were requested to develop software enabling the police to issue outstanding traffic fines to Turkish Cypriot vehicles at crossing points. Currently, there are approximately 16,000 undelivered citations awaiting resolution.

During the committee meeting, members raised significant questions regarding the overall efficiency of the traffic monitoring system and the administrative processes used to deliver fines. AKEL MP Andreas Pasiourtidis criticized the government and police for prioritizing the budget request over a transparent evaluation of the contractor's performance. He highlighted that the company is contractually obligated to utilize private process servers to ensure notice delivery, a requirement that appears unfulfilled, leading to long-standing delays.

The committee decided to adjourn the discussion until a future session, mandating the presence of representatives from the Ministry of Transport to provide further explanations. Legislators remain skeptical of authorizing additional funding until the government accounts for existing inefficiencies in the system's operation and explains why previous contractual obligations have not yet yielded effective results.