National Assembly member Shin Sungbeom (representing Sancheong, Hamyang, Geochang, and Hapcheon) has proposed the "Amendment to the Act on the Collection of Local Administrative Sanctions and Charges" to address issues where citizens were unable to receive refunds due to procedural deficiencies, even when local governments wrongly imposed fines and refund amounts were generated.
According to a fact-finding survey conducted last year by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, in cases such as parking violation fines, local governments had no obligation to notify citizens of refund amounts, resulting in many people being unaware that they were entitled to receive money back. Additionally, citizens had to go through a direct application process to receive refunds, causing significant inconvenience.
The survey also revealed that from 2020 to July 2023, over 980 million won in fines were overpaid or wrongly collected. Notably, over the past four years, about 20% (approximately 190 million won) of the wrongly collected amounts were not refunded by local governments due to a lack of legal grounds. In December last year, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission recommended measures such as imposing an obligation to notify citizens of overpayment refunds and improving related procedures.
The bill proposed by Representative Shin on the 10th includes provisions such as "establishing regulations for refunds of fines, including parking violation fines," and "mandatory notification of refunds and simplification of procedures," based on the commission's investigation and recommendations.
Representative Shin stated, "While the payment of fines is enforced, the lack of proper refund systems for wrongly collected amounts infringes upon citizens' property rights," adding, "I will work to improve the system to better protect citizens' property."
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