Traffic tickets are dished out to Jakartans everyday. Even so, according to the Jakarta Traffic Police, it seems that many people are still unaware of the options available to them if they’re ticketed.
“Public awareness of traffic law enforcement mechanisms is still low. So we need to enlighten people to support the transparency of law,” said AKBP Budiyanto, head of the Law Enforcement Sub-Directorate for the Jakarta Traffic Police, as quoted by BeritaSatu yesterday.
Budiyanto said that many traffic violators still don’t know the difference between blue and pink ticket slips. To help you out in case you get ticketed, here’s a handy explainer from the National Police’s Public Relations Dept:
To sum up:
– The pink slip (also referred to as red): Drivers can ask for this slip if they want to challenge the police officer’s decision to give them a ticket. They’d be required to attend a hearing at the district court in accordance with where they allegedly committed the violation (often not suitable for travelers). The hearing date is 14 days after the day of the violation. The driver’s license and/or vehicle registration will be returned upon paying the fine as determined by the court.
– The blue slip: The driver accepts their violation but chooses not to appear in court. The blue slip allows them to pay their fine (set to the maximum possible fine set by law for each violation) at a Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) branch designated by the officer. The driver then has to bring the receipt to the corresponding traffic police precinct to get their license and/or registration back.
It’s important to note that if you accept that you committed a violation, you must refuse the officer’s attempt to get you to take the pink slip. The pink slip is generally more hassle to deal with since violators have to appear in court, so some people end up bribing police officers to get out of it.
Alternatively, now you have the option to pay your traffic fines online, so with all the options available there’s no reason to bribe police officers anymore.
But we hope you drive safely and within the boundaries of the law anyway so you don’t have to deal with any of this in the first place.
