Starting 1 September, Cambodia will start implementing black points on driving licence on a trial basis for motorists violating road traffic laws nationwide. The new rule will come into effect on January 1, 2023.The National Road Safety Committee (NRSC) on Tuesday announced that the new technology-driven system will be used to deduct points from driver’s licence and make easy mode of payment for transit fines for violators of road traffic laws. The programme has been set up by the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Public Works and Transport in order to reduce road traffic accidents and ensure transparency in transitional penalties.According to the new measure, all driving licences will have a total score of 12 points, and the points will be deducted based on the offence committed and when the motorist exhausts all the points, the driver’s licence will be cancelled. The announcement states that the new measure is in accordance with Articles 43 and 44 of the Road Traffic Law and in accordance with the Inter-Ministerial Announcement on Penalties for Violations of the Road Traffic Law and the Inter-Ministerial Announcement on the procedures of deducting and refilling points for a driver’s licence. It added that in case of violation of law, the motorists must submit their original driver’s licence to the authorities who will inspect and implement the deduction of points. Heang Sotheayuth, director of the Information Technology and Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, said yesterday: “Once the driver reaches 12 points, the police have the right to revoke the driver’s licence. He/she will not be allowed to drive again until they take driving lessons again and get a fresh licence.He added, “If the offence is minor, he or she will be fined as a warning, but for repeated offenders and severe cases of offences, there will be deduction of points starting from one, which goes up to 12.” He added that there is nothing new in the fine system except for the use of technology. “Earlier we recorded everything manually. Now we will use technology to check the authenticity and validity of the licence which will ease the pressure of both police officers and the people.” The Ministry of Public Works and Transport confirmed the new measures and said that the new technology will help to know the details of erring motorists and the vehicle involved in the offence by scanning the driver’s licence. The points will be reduced based on the category of offence such as not wearing seat belts, speeding, drunk driving, overloading or traffic violations, among others.