South African roads agency will charge motorists R60 for a simple query that costs almost nothing

• The Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) will charge motorists R60 every time they check the balance of demerit points on their licences.
• Under the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) system, the cost of four queries will be R240, which accounts for about 4.5% of a minimum-wage worker's salary.
• The Department of Transport published the AARTO regulations as scans of a paper document, which made large sections of the regulations illegible.