Fining people for breaking the law is a pretty common practice in many countries worldwide. However, if you’ve ever actually sat down and thought about the practice of fining people for breaking the law it seems very classist. More often than not, fines are fixed. These fines which may seem exorbitant to people of the middle class may seem nothing to the rich. This means that they can freely break the law as the fine is nothing to them. However, the law in Finland seems cognizant of this fact.
Millionaires Not Above Law In Finland; Businessman Fined ₹1 Crore For Speeding
Recently, a businessman from Finland received a fine of more than ₹1 crore for breaking the law by speeding. Multimillionaire Finnish Businessman Anders Wiklof recently was caught speeding 30 kilometres per hour. This was over the speed limit and hence he was slapped with a fine.
The multimillionaire, who is 76 years old, was slapped with a fine of €121,000. This comes to around ₹1 crore and 67 lakhs. He commented that he regrets speeding and hopes that the money that he is paying will help the country reach its goal to save €1.5 billion on healthcare.
This is not the first time that the multimillionaire was caught speeding. He has been penalised twice before and this time, he also had his driving licence suspended for a total of 10 days.
Fining Laws In Finland; Other Countries Should Take Notes
Fining laws in Finland and in some other Nordic countries are calculated based on the violator’s income. The police can access a person’s income by plugging into the country’s central tax database. This means that the violators cannot lie and get away with paying less.
Such a dynamic fining system ensures that the law remains equal to even that class of people who usually remain unphased or seem untouchable by the law. Not just that, based on your previous record, the fine can even increase. The fine for the multimillionaire was so high because it was his third time violating the speed limit.
Don’t you think that more countries should adopt this dynamic approach of fining people? Let us know in the comments below!
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