Challenging a Traffic Camera Fine for Improper Notification in Colombia: Deadlines Under Law 1843, SIMIT, and the Difference Between Caducidad and Prescripción

You open SIMIT to sell the car and an electronic traffic ticket appears that you never saw coming. It's a very common moment, and it's exactly when someone messages you on WhatsApp offering to "make it disappear" for a payment. Watch out: there is no automatic cancellation button, and the procedure before the traffic authority and SIMIT is not paid to an agent.

Quick answer: the authority validates the infraction within 10 business days at most, sends the order within 3 business days following that validation, and you have 11 business days from receipt to appear. These are successive deadlines, not a single 13-day term, and showing up late does not cancel the ticket on its own.

The two deadlines of the photo-fine

Law 1843 of 2017 regulates the technological detection of infractions. What it does not provide for is supplemented by the National Traffic Code and, in the gaps, the CPACA.

First clock: validation. This is the verification the officer performs on what the system recorded, and it must occur within 10 business days at most following the alleged infraction. This is stated in article 7.8.1.3.3 of Resolution 20223040045295 of August 4, 2022, which the Ministry of Transport was still citing in opinions from March and April 2026.

Second clock: sending. The order and its supporting documents are sent to the owner by mail, through a legally constituted company, and/or by email, within 3 business days following validation. If you cannot be identified at the last address in the RUNT, the authority notifies by public notice.

An example: if the officer validates on the fourth business day, the 3 sending days start that day, not on the tenth. The Ministry clarified this in opinion MT 20261340632151 of May 6, 2026. That is why adding 10 plus 3 and saying "13 days" is a frequent mistake.

What does change if notification was missing or went wrong

Here is the part many blogs exaggerate. The consequence the law sets out is this: if it is shown that the electronic order was not notified or was notified incorrectly, the deadlines for reducing the penalty start on the day of notification. It does not say the ticket is annulled or that SIMIT must delete it.

After delivery, the order must summon you to appear within the following 11 business days, counted from receipt at the last address registered in the RUNT. For the photo-fine, that is the appearance deadline of Law 1843; do not mix it up with the 5 business days of the general procedure in the Code.

Watch out for an old address. The owner must keep in the RUNT, at a minimum, a notification address, phone number and email. If you did not, the authority sends to the last registered address, you are deemed bound, and subsequent decisions are notified by public posting. Failing to update the RUNT does not automatically work as a "they never notified me" defense.

How to request a review, with no magic template

First check your license plate in SIMIT, as we explained in this guide to looking up traffic tickets by license plate. The plate lookup shows tickets, fines and agreements for the vehicle even if another person was driving. But SIMIT is a showcase: if you disagree, the claim goes to the traffic authority that reported the fine.

Before that body, in writing, calmly request:

• the date of the infraction and the date of validation;
• proof of sending: the mail company or the email used;
• the address and email to which it was sent;
• the date of delivery, or of the public notice if they could not locate you.

This request is processed as a right of petition; check the response deadline in force at the authority. And if you are already within the 11 business days, do not wait for the answer: schedule the appearance and there present your arguments and request evidence.

Ministry of Transport opinions illustrate the rule, but they do not bind the authority in a specific case. The outcome is decided by the authority.

One-year lapse and three-year prescription

The ticket is not the fine: it is the order to appear. That is why, if the penalty was already decided within the year, lapse can no longer be requested. The Bogotá Mobility Secretariat explains it this way in its response updated on July 15, 2026, as a local example, not as a different rule.

Some opinions from 2025 and 2026 speak of one year from the imposition of the ticket. I stick with the text of the law: the year runs from the facts. Moreover, if you file a timely appeal and it is not decided within one year, it is deemed decided in your favor. Direct revocation applies only supplementarily and, if it favors you, its effects look forward.

Prescription, debt collection and the payment order are covered in our guide to ticket prescription; here it is enough to know that it is declared ex officio and is not the same as lapse.

Discounts if you accept the infraction

If you decide not to fight it, article 136 allows paying 50% within 5 days following the order, with a mandatory traffic rules course, or 75% of the fine's value within 20 days following, also with a course. Note: this is not a "75% discount," it is paying 75%. Outside those deadlines, 100% plus late-payment interest applies.

Bogotá publishes a different calendar for electronic tickets in that response; the traffic body that imposed your order governs, so confirm there. And remember that the official payment is made through the SIMIT portal (fcm.org.co/simit) with PSE or bank receipt, not via Nequi, Daviplata, Transfiya or deposits to savings accounts, according to the Colombian Federation of Municipalities alert of August 30, 2024. Be wary of pages that imitate SIMIT and of attachments that ask for a password.

Selling the car with the plate free of doubts

Without a paz y salvo (clearance certificate), the Federation reports that procedures before traffic bodies do not proceed. That is why the photo-fine often appears just when you are about to transfer. Before listing the vehicle, check the plate and, if there is an open case, do not promise the transfer: the body may still deny it. If you need the document, check how to download the paz y salvo, and for the vehicle history, which is different from the fines status, see the vehicle history and the certificate of title.

According to active listings on Colombia Move (November 2026) there are 8 cars posted, so the category is only just growing. A listing does not close any fine, but it helps you filter: ask for the city and whether SIMIT has already been checked before sharing personal data.

One last detail about cameras: on roads with technological detection there must be visible signs before the zone. On national roads with a fixed speed system, that sign is placed 500 meters before. But the law does not say that its absence annuls the ticket: it is a defect that is raised before the authority. And no Ministry opinion wins the case for you.

Frequently asked questions

❓ Does the photo-fine fall if I was not notified within 13 business days?

There is no single 13-day term that annuls the ticket. It is 10 business days to validate and 3 to send, counted from validation. If there was a defect, what changes is when your deadlines start, and the authority decides this (verify at the official source).

❓ What happens if I show that I was never notified?

The deadlines for reducing the penalty start when you are finally notified, if you prove the failure or defect. That alone does not erase the record: the law does not say the ticket is annulled, and the traffic authority makes the decision (verify at the official source).

❓ Are the lapse of the ticket and the prescription of the fine the same thing?

No. Lapse extinguishes the action one year from the facts, to decide the penalty. Prescription operates at 3 years from the fact on the penalty already imposed, and is interrupted by notification of the payment order (verify at the official source).

❓ Can SIMIT annul the photo-fine?

No. The portal shows the tickets and receives payment, but it has no cancellation button. If you disagree, the claim is filed with the traffic authority that reported the infraction, without paying intermediaries (verify at the official source).

❓ Was I properly notified if the email went to an old address in the RUNT?

The law sends the order to the last registered address and, if you did not update it, considers you bound. That is why it is advisable to keep your RUNT address, phone and email current, because an old address does not work as an automatic excuse (verify at the official source).

❓ How much discount does the photo-fine carry if I accept it?

The Code allows paying 50% within 5 days following the order, with a course, or 75% of the value within 20 days following, with a course. It is not a 75% discount, and Bogotá's calendar does not apply to the whole country (verify at the official source).

❓ Can I sell the car if the ticket is still open?

A pending item in SIMIT can block the traffic procedure, which requires a paz y salvo. Check the plate on the official portal before promising the transfer, because publishing the listing does not close the fine (verify at the official source).