Truck drivers in Russia have started using fake license plates to avoid responsibility for overloading and exceeding dimensions. However, fines have started arriving to owners of passenger cars. They can reach up to 600 thousand rubles.
The fraudulent scheme involves trucks replacing their license plates with duplicates that match the registration plates of passenger cars before reaching weight control points. Because of this, fines for overloading are sent to the owners of passenger cars.
For example, according to Article 12.21.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, the fine for excess weight can range from 400 to 600 thousand rubles.
A recent case occurred with the owner of a Chevrolet Lacetti from Omsk, who was fined 600 thousand rubles for a truck exceeding the permissible dimensions by 0.79 meters. The photograph accompanying the fine showed a Kenworth T200 tractor. Despite the clear evidence of a fake license plate, as well as the fact that the violation was registered in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, 2000 kilometers from Omsk, it was very difficult to cancel the fine.
According to Alexander Shumsky, a lawyer and head of the "Probok.net" expert center, such cases are not isolated. Truck drivers also use duplicates when traveling on toll roads with the automatic "Free Flow" system. From 2024 to 2025, an increase in the number of cases of using fake license plates was recorded in the Urals and Siberia.
The main problem is that automatic weight and dimension control systems (APVGK) read fake license plates but cannot match them with data on passenger cars in the traffic police database. Additional difficulties are created by the lack of an effective appeal system at Rostransnadzor, which forces drivers to go to court.
The use of fake license plates can result in a fine of 2,500 rubles and deprivation of the right to drive a car for individuals. However, it is difficult to catch truck drivers in the act of replacing license plates, as weight control points often operate automatically, and truckers can easily remove duplicates after passing through.
If a fine comes to the owner of a passenger car, they have only 10 days to appeal, after which the case is transferred to bailiffs who block accounts. According to experts, it is necessary to integrate the system from weight control points with the traffic police databases and the "Safe City" system. This will allow taking into account the VIN, color, and body type so that the fine does not depend only on the license plate. A quick online appeal procedure through "Gosuslugi" is also needed, and responsibility for using duplicates should be tightened, possibly up to criminal liability.