Rome council has introduced a service on its website allowing people to see if they will be receiving a request for payment for outstanding traffic fines received before 31 December 2004. Clicking on the box titled Concordato multe elevate fino al 2004 (agreement on elevated fines until 2004) on the right-hand side of the homepage takes users to an information page and another link: Verifica se stai per ricevere la comunicazione del concordato (check if you are due to receive a communication). Here, by typing in either a codice fiscale (tax code) or partita IVA (VAT) number they can see whether they should be expecting to hear from Equitalia GERIT, the agency in charge of collecting the fines.

The service follows on from a decision by the city council in October 2009 to reduce the amount payable on outstanding traffic fines pre-dating 2005. The ruling means that people will have to pay only the original fine and not the subsequent penalty charges. Previous to the decision, unpaid fines were subject to a penalty charge which doubled after six months and then increased every six months thereafter. These charges are no longer applicable.

Letters from GERIT are being sent to relevant parties now. The reduced fines need to be paid by 15 May 2010, after which GERIT will resume its collection duties based on the full amount owed before the ruling with no reduction on penalty charges.

Rome council made the decision to reduce payments on outstanding fines in order to recoup at least some of the money owed on the original charges and to clear up accounting imbalances from previous administrations.