If you pay 50 percent of the fine within a month, you may be exempted from the rest. The new system promises significant relief for businesses.
On April 13, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewed proposals aimed at liberalizing the system of applying financial penalties to entrepreneurs and strengthening judicial control.
At the presentation, it was noted that a number of problems persist for entrepreneurs in the practice of applying financial fines today. In particular, the fact that most fines are currently applied by authorized bodies and the rest by courts indicates the need to strengthen judicial control.
In this regard, it was proposed to introduce a new and unified procedure starting October 1 of this year to encourage the voluntary payment of financial fines. According to this, if an entrepreneurial entity pays 50 percent of the fine within one month from the date the decision of the authorized body is delivered, it will be exempt from paying the remaining part.
It is also planned to create the opportunity to pay the fine in installments in equal shares over six months. In this case, if one-sixth of the fine amount is paid within one month after the decision is delivered, this procedure will automatically apply.
In order to strengthen judicial control, it was proposed to establish a mechanism for returning collected funds within 15 days in the event that the decision of the authorized body to apply a financial fine is canceled or declared invalid by the court. If this deadline is violated, interest is expected to be charged for each delayed calendar day based on the Central Bank's main rate.
Special attention was also paid to the digitalization of the processes for applying financial fines. It was proposed to introduce an electronic register of financial fines applied to business entities in the "Single State Control" information system maintained by the Business Ombudsman.
Decisions of authorized bodies will be required to be entered into this system with an electronic digital signature after adoption. Decisions not entered into the information system and not confirmed by an electronic digital signature will be considered invalid, and fines will not be collected on their basis.
The necessity of creating the opportunity to keep records of financial fines, monitor them, and pay them online through a mobile application, as well as to integrate the information systems of interested agencies, was noted. It is planned to introduce the opportunity to file online complaints against decisions on financial fines through the taxpayer-entrepreneurial entity's personal account and to automatically suspend the execution of the decision upon filing a complaint.
At the presentation, a proposal was voiced to draft the Law "On Legal Impact Measures" aimed at unifying the procedure for applying legal impact measures.
The Head of State emphasized that reliably protecting the rights and legitimate interests of business entities, encouraging them to operate in compliance with the law, and ensuring fairness and transparency in the practice of applying fines are among the most important tasks.
Responsible officials were given relevant instructions to thoroughly develop the proposals, strengthen judicial control, accelerate digitalization, and form a unified, clear, and fair legal mechanism in the field.
