Why has a driver's license score become a business book?
Investigation motivation
Recently, Mr. Wang, a resident of Beijing, reported to reporters that he often sees small advertisements on his social media, websites, and shared bicycles for buying and selling driver's license scores, such as "recovering driver's license scores at a high price", "scanning QR codes to add and monetize driver's license scores", "withholding driver's license scores, welcome to consult", and so on.
"Isn't buying and selling driver's license points making traffic violations more rampant?!" Mr. Wang said that it is necessary to crack down severely on the buying and selling of driver's license points and the withholding of driver's license points by scalpers to maintain traffic safety and order.
How to rectify the split buying and selling of driver's licenses? With questions in mind, the reporter conducted an investigation and interview.
Not long ago, Mr. Han, a resident of Tianjin, was penalized 6 points for accidentally driving through a red light. His driver's license has already been penalized 7 points, and any further deduction of 6 points will result in him having to retake his driver's license. So Mr. Han asked his friend for help, hoping to borrow his driver's license and deduct these 6 points. Unexpectedly, the other party pushed him a social friend business card, saying that he had "spent a little money to buy a share".
Mr. Han added a friend of the other party and saw that he had posted a large number of order taking advertisements on his social media circle: "Deducting driver's license points! Consultation needed", "Big and small cars! Motorcycles! Original documents do not exceed the license! Large quantities of orders in low definition", "Violation of regulations quoted on the same day shall prevail, expired orders shall be invalidated". One of the accompanying images is: a stack of motor vehicle driving licenses and traffic violation handling certificates stacked together.
In the end, Mr. Han purchased 6 points for 1 point and 120 yuan, paid 720 yuan, and sent his driver's license to the other party according to their instructions. A few days later, the other party sent feedback pictures of the violation handling, and 6 points were deducted. At the same time, the driver's license was sent back to Mr. Han.
A recent investigation by a reporter from the Legal Daily found that there are many scalpers who mediate the buying and selling of driver's license points on e-commerce and social media platforms, and help illegal drivers deduct points on their behalf, resulting in a thriving business. Several interviewed experts have pointed out that buying and selling and withholding driver's license scores are contrary to the original intention of the traffic legal system design, and pose risks and hidden dangers to traffic safety and order. Relevant departments should increase their efforts to crack down on and rectify such behavior, increase the cost of illegal activities, and effectively curb such behavior.
Driver's license points are clearly priced
Hidden on online platforms
The investigation by reporters found that online e-commerce platforms and social media platforms, such as directly searching for keywords such as "deducted driver's license points" and "driver's license points", will display "no related products", while some merchants evade supervision through forms such as "paying fines on behalf of others", "handling driver's licenses on behalf of others", and "vehicle agency business", actually secretly buying and selling driver's license points.
On a certain e-commerce platform, the reporter searched using the keyword "proxy payment" and found a product on the search page called "Legitimate company strength, national traffic fine processing, proxy payment deduction points". After clicking to enter, the product name changed to "National vehicle traffic violation processing, car rental, long-distance traffic fine payment, proxy annual inspection, driver's license penalty". The monthly sales of this product reached over 900 pieces, and in the product reviews, many buyers vaguely commented that "the violation has been dealt with.". In the product question area, questions such as "can I buy points" and "can I cancel points" are all answered positively by existing consumers.
The reporter consulted several e-commerce companies that tout "vehicle agency business", and they all expressed that they can provide sales and consumption services, with prices ranging from 100 to 300 yuan for 1 point. Some merchants claim that they will provide a quotation based on the location of the license plate provided by the reporter, the details of the violation, and the number of driver's licenses that have been deducted excessively within one year; Most merchants explicitly state that they will not accept certificates that exceed the limit or are caught in high-definition violations, while some merchants claim that "the price is reasonable and can be met.".
In terms of the handling process, these merchants require reporters to provide photos of their driver's license and the license plate number of the illegal vehicle, and ensure that the processing can be completed within 1 to 3 working days. Finally, they provide a payment voucher for the reporter to inspect.
The above "goods" section can be directly traded on e-commerce platforms, and the unit price displayed on the platform is usually 10 yuan. Buyers can place orders by changing the quantity of goods. Some businesses also require journalists to add their private social media accounts for transactions.
In addition to selling points, the scalpers encountered by the reporter also clearly stated that they can receive points, with prices ranging from 50 to 60 yuan per minute. Some scalpers say that it is important to be prepared as customers may need journalists to be present on site to cooperate and deduct points when purchasing points. Some scalpers also say, "You don't need to be in person, just give us your driver's license.".
During the interview, the reporter found that ride hailing drivers and others are key customers who buy driver's licenses. In addition to online platforms, there are also "scalpers" soliciting "business" at rental points, car repair shops and other places where drivers often appear.
Mr. Chen, who has been hitchhiking all year round, told reporters that this type of scalper is almost well-known in the industry. "We have a high frequency of driving and a high probability of violating regulations. Every year, I have to buy dozens of points from 'scalpers' and spend thousands of yuan. According to him, according to the new traffic regulations, each car can be bound to a maximum of three driver's licenses, and each driver's license can correspond to a maximum of three cars.' scalpers' can help replace the bound driver's license.".
There are risks and hidden dangers in withholding
Public security organs crack down severely
In fact, buying and selling driver's license points has long been explicitly prohibited. The Measures for the Scoring Management of Road Traffic Safety Violations, implemented in April 2022, stipulate corresponding responsibilities for buying and selling driver's license points and organizing others to buy and sell points for economic benefits.
According to industry insiders, before the promulgation of the "Measures", in practice, according to the Public Security Administration Punishment Law, buying and selling branches were classified as "using deceptive means to influence the public security traffic management department to handle cases in accordance with the law", and were subject to administrative detention for 5 to 10 days and a fine of 200 to 500 yuan.
Huang Haibo, Director of the Traffic Management and Transportation Law Professional Committee of the Beijing Lawyers Association, said that the introduction of the "Measures" is to fully leverage the management, education, and guidance functions of the scoring system, enhance the traffic safety awareness of motor vehicle drivers, and achieve the goal of reducing road traffic safety violations and preventing and reducing road traffic accidents. The act of buying and selling driver's licenses violates the aforementioned regulations, disrupts traffic management order, deprives traffic violators of the necessary education and punishment, and thus fails to effectively curb traffic violations and reduce traffic accidents, causing great damage to traffic safety and order.
In law enforcement practice, there are often cases of being investigated and punished for buying and selling driver's licenses. Not long ago, the traffic police department in Nanjing, Jiangsu, investigated and dealt with a case of handling electronic exposure scoring for traffic violations during daily patrols. The intermediary responsible for buying and selling driver's license scores was administratively detained for 7 days and fined 300 yuan. The illegal gains of 690 yuan were recovered; The buyer, Zhou, has a minor circumstance and voluntarily confessed truthfully, and will not be subject to administrative punishment; The seller, Zou, has a minor circumstance and voluntarily confessed to the case truthfully. No administrative penalty will be imposed, and the illegal gains of 510 yuan will be recovered.
According to the relevant person in charge of the Nanjing Traffic Police Department, the Nanjing Traffic Police insist on cracking down on illegal buying and selling of driver's licenses. They not only conduct meticulous investigations and punishments in accordance with the relevant punishment regulations of the Measures, but also impose public security penalties and administrative detention on those who violate the Public Security Management Punishment Law by providing false testimony. In recent years, Nanjing traffic police have handled more than 50 cases of buying and selling, and have detained more than 100 people administratively. Through strict punishment, such scalpers have significantly decreased, and the relevant police situation has significantly decreased.
In August last year, the Huangpu police in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province intensified their crackdown on illegal activities such as online buying and selling of driver's licenses, focusing on a special project related to car related crimes. They investigated and dealt with two cases of buying and selling driver's licenses. The relevant person in charge of Huangpu Police said that based on previous cases investigated, on the one hand, some drivers have weak legal awareness and believe that the deduction of points by proxy agents is relatively ordinary. If the points are not deducted completely within a scoring cycle, they can be used to exchange for economic benefits; On the other hand, some drivers have a mentality of luck, and after committing traffic violations, they attempt to handle the punishment through others, without fully realizing the social harm of this behavior. "At present, the public security organs continue to increase their crackdown efforts and seriously investigate and punish such illegal activities."
Joint punishment for data sharing
Improve the credit record mechanism
Why is the situation of buying and selling driver's license scores still repeatedly prohibited under strict crackdowns from relevant departments?
According to Huang Haibo's analysis, there are still certain difficulties in law enforcement. Currently, a large number of traffic violations rely on monitoring and evidence collection. However, due to technical and distance reasons, it is difficult to determine the actual violator, which provides opportunities for both buyers and sellers to take advantage of. At the same time, the crackdown on this illegal buying and selling behavior still needs to be further strengthened. The "Measures" stipulate that once investigated and punished, the original punishment decision shall be revoked, and a fine shall be imposed. Those who organize others to carry out selling behavior are often given public security penalties, and the deterrent effect is insufficient.
"Some drivers lack sufficient awareness and vigilance towards traffic violations, are unwilling to bear legal responsibility and consequences, and are unwilling to correct their wrong driving habits. They only want to avoid punishment by buying points. Some drivers lack understanding of the legal risks and consequences of buying and selling driver's license points, believing that even if discovered, it is only a minor punishment and not realizing that such behavior may lead to serious consequences." said Dai Xianfeng, Secretary General of the Legal Work Committee of the China Transportation Association.
The relevant person in charge of the Nanjing Traffic Police Department told reporters based on actual work situations that with the increasing crackdown and legal protection by the police, the buying and selling activities have gradually shifted towards concealment, and the behavior of directly soliciting business and transferring money near the roadside and windows has gradually decreased. However, the situation of delivering advertising cards through wide nets or online channels has increased, increasing the difficulty of police on-site investigation and obtaining evidence.
In order to effectively crack down on the illegal behavior of buying and selling driver's licenses, Huang Haibo called for the improvement of evidence collection technology, strengthening legal publicity and education, strengthening crackdown efforts, increasing the cost of illegal activities, and making the gains and losses of buying and selling driver's licenses outweigh the losses.
The relevant person in charge of Guangzhou Huangpu Police said, "The police will continue to strictly investigate and punish individuals and institutions who organize the scoring of buying and selling driver's licenses, purify the order of handling traffic violations; continue to combine punishment and education, and for individual buying and selling driver's licenses, in addition to strengthening law enforcement penalties, we also need to strengthen legal publicity and education at the source, combined with scenarios such as driver's license exams, regular inspections, and handling traffic violations, increase legal publicity, and effectively improve drivers' awareness of law, understanding, and compliance."
Dai Xianfeng suggests increasing law enforcement and supervision efforts, punishing violators in accordance with the law, cleaning up and banning intermediaries and platforms, and cutting off channels and profit chains for buying and selling driver's licenses. At the same time, we will improve information systems and data sharing, establish a real name management and credit record mechanism for traffic violations, effectively identify and trace the behavior of buying and selling driver's licenses, impose credit and joint penalties on violators, and form effective deterrence and restraint.
For platforms that offer scores for buying and selling driver's licenses, Dai Xianfeng believes that such platforms objectively provide convenience and channels for buying and selling driver's license scores, helping violators evade legal supervision and punishment. From the perspective of regulatory obligations on e-commerce platforms, platforms bear corresponding regulatory responsibilities for illegal activities suspected of buying and selling driver's license scores. The platform should delete relevant links in a timely manner after discovering them, and at the same time, increase pre inspection efforts for such illegal links that evade supervision through forms such as "paying fines on behalf of others" and "obtaining driver's licenses on behalf of others".
"We also need to promote public participation and social supervision, encourage the public to report acts of buying and selling driver's license scores, reward and protect whistleblowers, timely verify and handle reported information, and create a good atmosphere for the whole society to participate in cracking down on the behavior of buying and selling driver's license scores," said Dai Xianfeng.
