Suncheon City Delays License Plate Seizure for Overdue Vehicles... Eases Parking and Stopping Enforcement

Temporary Relaxation of Parking Enforcement to Alleviate COVID-19 Hardships and Revitalize Local Economy

Parking enforcement scene. Photo by Suncheon City provided.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] Some local governments have temporarily suspended the seizure of license plates on vehicles with unpaid automobile taxes and fines to support citizens facing economic difficulties due to the spread of COVID-19, drawing attention.

According to Suncheon City on the 6th, this measure is being implemented to secure parking spaces for the increasing number of vehicles as the use of private cars has expanded due to prolonged COVID-19 impacts, which have severely affected local small business owners, and due to 'social distancing.'

This temporary suspension aims to support citizens' smooth economic activities and encourage participation in social distancing while using their own vehicles.

The city usually operates three teams for license plate seizure of vehicles with unpaid automobile taxes and fines. However, to alleviate the local economic downturn caused by COVID-19, the illegal parking enforcement hours, which were previously from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., have been reduced by one hour each in the morning and afternoon, now running from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

This relaxation of enforcement hours will be temporarily in effect from the 6th until the COVID-19 crisis alert level 'Severe' is lifted.

Additionally, the city is taking measures such as deferring the collection of local tax arrears and extending deadlines for non-tax revenue payments. For taxpayers facing financial difficulties, installment payments are encouraged to reduce the economic burden of lump-sum payments.

Moon Byung-tae, head of the collection department, said, "We hope this temporary suspension of license plate seizures will support residents in difficulty and help revitalize the local economy," adding, "We will continue to provide various supports so that citizens faithfully pay local taxes through normal economic activities."

However, for vehicles parked in absolutely prohibited areas such as bus stops, crosswalks (10 meters before and after), intersection corners, fire hydrants (5 meters before and after), and sidewalks, the 24-hour resident reporting system will operate, and focused enforcement will be conducted using monitoring equipment without any changes, so citizens need to be cautious.