According to data sent to HotNews.ro by the Ministry of Health, more than 230,000 people have been fined almost half a billion lei for not filling out a digital entry form in Romania. This measure was introduced last December and canceled this spring. . The department also reported how many fines paid by the state must now be returned to those who have been sanctioned, according to the law that recently came into force.

The law, which provides for the cancellation of the fines applied for failure to fulfill the obligation to fill out the digital entry form in Romania (PLF) and refunds to Romanians who have already paid these fines, was made public and published last month in the official journal. herald.

Initially, fines for not filling in the PLF ranged from 2,000 to 3,000 lei, but in February the government lowered the minimum fine threshold to 500 lei after many Romanians accused them of unfair sanctions.

How many Romanians were fined and how many fines were given for not having PLF

Upon HotNews.ro’s request, the Ministry of Health sent information on the fines applied by the Directorates of Public Health (DSP) between the introduction of this measure and its cancellation, namely:

• “236,607 people were fined for not filling out the PLF form. 251,561 fines in the amount of 452,386,500 lei were applied,” the Ministry of Health reported.

How many paid fines must now be returned by the state to sub-sanctioned persons

The law recently entered into force provides, in addition to the cancellation of the applied fines, and the return of funds to those who managed to pay these fines. Data from the Ministry of Health indicate that tens of thousands of people are in such a situation.

• “From the centralization of receipts for payment of violations received at the level of the Health Departments, 28,593 confirmations of payment of PLF violations were received,” the Ministry of Health noted.

The department did not specify exactly what sums should be returned to account for these more than 28,000 fines, but considering that most of the fines were applied until February of this year, when the amount of fines was between 2,000 and 3,000 lei, we can estimate that we are talking about amounts from 57.1 million lei to 85.7 million lei.

In February 2022, after complaints and numerous court cases due to poor implementation of this measure, the Government lowered the minimum fine threshold to 500 lei.

In March 2022, the government passed a decree abolishing the obligation to fill in the PLF form when entering Romania.

How to get a refund if you have received a penalty for a PLF form

The procedure for refunding by local fiscal authorities the fines paid by Romanians for not filling out the digital entry form to Romania (PLF) when entering the country was approved on Tuesday, August 16, by the order of the Minister of Development Ceke Attil. and published in the Official Gazette.

To return paid fines, Romanians must apply to the local fiscal authority at their place of residence, within 90 days from the date of entry into force of this order of the Minister of Development, refund request.

The application for restitution is submitted to the authorized local fiscal body in writing or by means of electronic remote communication together with a copy of the identity document.

The claim for compensation is accompanied by copies of the violation report and payment documents and must contain the following elements:

• a) name and surname of the applicant;
• b) personal numerical code;
• c) place of residence of the applicant;
• d) the amount and nature of the claim required for restitution;
• e) the IBAN code associated with the account for which the refund is requested, if the refund is not selected in cash;
• f) the bank in which the account in which the refund is requested is opened.

What happens after you apply? How long will you have to wait?

According to the procedure, upon receipt of the claim for refund, the competent local fiscal authority checks it, the attached documents and data from the accounts of the payers.

If the competent local fiscal authority considers that it needs additional documents related to the resolution of the request, it requests their provision.

According to the Ministry of Development, the amounts can be returned to the account indicated by the taxpayer, in cash at the cash desks of local fiscal authorities, or will be deducted from other fiscal debts if this taxpayer has to pay taxes on buildings, land taxes, vehicle taxes, etc. Payment deadline no more than 45 days from the moment of their submission.

Citizens who received a fine for an offense for not filling out the PLF form, but did not pay the fines, are canceled and removed from the records of the enforcement authorities without submitting a completed application.

• SEE THE ENTIRE PROCEDURE HERE IN THE OFFICIAL VIEW