The Senate adopted, on Wednesday, a bill: fines of up to 25,000 lei for public institutions that ask citizens for copies of permits or documents already issued by other state bodies. Including at inspections, not only when handling a public-service request. First chamber. The Chamber of Deputies is decisive. A Senate adoption. Not a law in force. Dump Radio România Actualități.

Ziare.com: 49 for, one against, 40 abstentions. It amends GEO 41/2016. The institution asks the issuer, electronically, with the beneficiary’s consent. The dump said “up to 25,000”. Ziare: a 5,000–25,000 range for asking for copies. Another range, 1,000–5,000, for staff. Two ceilings. Do not mix them into one fine.

Daniela Mihai, PSD senator, a sponsor: a legal tool for citizens; institutions, pushed to finish computerisation. AUR backed it, on bureaucracy. Niculina Stelea: Romania last on digitisation; it sounds good to issue fines, but one must see who records them. That is her caveat. It is not a vote against.

Fine revenue, to the state budget. A contravention, not a crime. The bill goes to the Chamber of Deputies. Without promulgation, without the Official Gazette, the fine does not apply.

The ban on asking for copies already exists, in part, in the GEO. Today’s text stretches it to inspections and sets a figure. Romania’s digitisation is not finished. It is a Senate vote.

Dump Radio România Actualități. The rewrite rests on Radio România Actualități and Ziare.com.

Image: the Palace of the Parliament from Dealul Mitropoliei, Bucharest, 25 March 2023, Chainwit., CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. A city view, not the Senate chamber.

Sources consulted: Amenzi pentru instituțiile care cer de la cetățeni copii ale documentelor emise de alte instituții — Ziare.com.