Qatar motorists who have been putting off paying old fines have until Thursday, July 7 to take advantage of a 50 percent discount on traffic violations.

The Ministry of Interior introduced the half-off offer in the beginning of 2016 to encourage people to pay off long-standing traffic violations.

It includes any fines incurred before Dec. 31, 2015, and covers all types of violations.

When the offer was initially rolled out, it was set to be in place until April 7, but then the deadline was extended for two more months.

Traffic fines reach millions

An analysis of government data forecast that Qatar motorists are on track to incur more than QR800 million in traffic fines in 2016.

In January alone, the total amount of traffic violation fines added up to QR69 million.

Historically, Qatar residents have not been the only ones racking up tickets.

In 2013, for example, officers were asked to keep an eye out for 42 Saudi vehicles that had accumulated some QR2.7 million in fines for committing 5,337 traffic violations in Qatar.

Motorists can pay off pending fines before Thursday through the Metrash2 app, or by visiting the traffic department.

That will be open throughout the Eid holidays from 8am to noon.

For more information on working hours and what else is going on during Eid Al Fitr, check out our guide here.

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