Motorists warned of fake Aarto websites and traffic fine scams

The Road Traffic Infringement Authority (RTIA) has warned motorists of a surge in fraudulent Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) platform websites.

“Motorists are strongly advised to make payments only through verified and approved payment platforms,” the RTIA said.

“Motorists must always make use of the 16-digit infringement notice number as a reference, which does not need the RTIA bank account to make payments on the official payment platforms. These fake messages claim to be Aarto fines, often with threats of licence blocks, vehicle disc blocks or additional penalties.”

The authority said scammers are sending messages containing links urging recipients to pay R250 to qualify for a supposed discount on a traffic fine.

“Always make payments only through verified and approved payment platforms. Don’t click on links to make payments. If you receive a message like this, delete it immediately, remain calm and contact the RTIA directly for verification.”

“The only official Aarto website is https://online.aarto.gov.za. Do not make payments or provide personal details on any other website claiming to be Aarto. All other links, .com, .co.za, and .online domains claiming to be Aarto are fraudulent,” said the RTIA.

The controversial and long-delayed Aarto system went live in 62 municipalities on July 1. The municipalities listed include Tshwane and Joburg, but no municipalities within the Western Cape have been included in this phase of implementation.

Aarto is the government’s plan to remove the burden of minor traffic offences from traditional criminal courts and handle them administratively.

With Aarto, drivers will be allocated points for offences and face suspension or cancellation of their licences if they accumulate too many, in addition to a fine. If the licence is cancelled the driver must, after a prescribed period, redo their learner’s and full driving tests from scratch.

Aarto has been piloted in Tshwane and Johannesburg for more than a decade without the licence demerit system, but several previous attempts to expand its implementation have been delayed.

Licence demerit points are not part of the July 1 Aarto rollout and will be implemented during a later phase.