Filenews 25 October 2025 - by Michalis Chatzivasilis
There seems to be a problem with vehicles rented by tourists who are reported by the Traffic Police cameras. This emerges from the data provided by the Ministry of Justice to the Parliament, in contrast to vehicles rented by Cypriot citizens or companies, where there is no serious problem.
According to the data of the contractor company given after questions by DISY Larnaca MP Prodromos Alambritis, from 2022 to May 2025, violations have been recorded for approximately 17.222 rental vehicles without a driver (G). According to the data, for 1.400 of them there was a driver suggestion and for 800 of them the out-of-court notices have already been paid. Another 8.277 of them are being processed, while for 6.745 there is no driver indication. As can be seen from these data, one in 20 drivers of a rental vehicle who was reported paid his out-of-court fee, while 6.745 of the 17.000 out-of-court documents remain orphans, since the authorities do not know who was driving them
The problem seems to focus on the procedure followed when a traffic violation is detected by the driver of a vehicle with "Z" plates, and especially tourists. According to the Police, in the case of rental vehicles without a driver (G), a letter is being prepared which is sent to the owner of the vehicle, to indicate the driver. These cases can be separated and managed as follows:
• The vehicle has been rented to a Cypriot. The rental company can register the driver's details electronically (eTOL), so that an out-of-court notice is then issued which is sent to the indicated driver.
• The vehicle has been rented to a company in Cyprus. The rental company in cooperation with an official of the company that rented the vehicle, cooperates to indicate the driver's details electronically (eTOL) and then the out-of-court notice is issued in the name of the indicated driver.
• The vehicle was rented to a guest. The letter is sent to the rental company which is required to possess the necessary information (name, passport number, address of residence in its country) which it fills in electronically (eTOL), in order to issue an out-of-court notice to the indicated driver. However, in order for an out-of-court order to be issued, the person must be registered with full details in the Police's out-of-court system, a process that has yet to be fully implemented.
The Chief of Police, according to the Minister, refers to practical difficulties in the implementation of the 3rd reservation where "... in case the registered owner of the vehicle is a business, in accordance with the Law on the Rental of Vehicles Without Drivers and the vehicle at the time of registration is leased, the offending driver is considered to be the lessee of the vehicle and/or the driver resulting from the rental contract". To this end, it is noted that the competent Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works has prepared and put to public consultation a relevant bill for the amendment of the mentioned law. This bill also contains provisions regarding the service of notices to offending drivers of rental vehicles without a driver (G).
As mentioned, in this context, instructions have been given to the Police Director of the Traffic Headquarters, to examine whether the provisions and amendments included in the mentioned amending bill adequately address these practical difficulties. In case additional amendments are required, they should be indicated to the competent Ministry so that they can be included in the mentioned bill and forwarded without delay.
"F" contacted the police director of the Traffic Police, Haris Evripidou, who stated that a provision has already been introduced in the bill of the Ministry of Transport so that notifications about the existence of an out-of-court issue are sent to the companies by e-mail and the companies are obliged to send the name of the driver. This must be done quickly so that the tourist or any driver driving a vehicle belonging to a company is informed of the out-of-court notice. In the case of tourists, if they leave Cyprus, their details should be available so that the out-of-court document can be sent to their country.
The owners of "Z" react
On the issue, there is a reaction from the Cyprus Association of Car Rental Owners, since as its president Konstantinos Kontos recently told us, the legislation as it stands today, obliges vehicle rental companies to keep all the customer's details and those who do not do so are accountable to the Department of Road Transport (TOM). The TOM must, he said, supervise the companies if they fill in the full details of the tenants and even reminded that the legislation also provides for penalties for those who do not comply.
He expressed the Association's opposition as in 2021 when the issue was discussed again in Parliament, with the suggestion for withholding money from tourists for photo-tagging purposes.
