He thought his friend would complete the procedures and transfer ownership of the vehicle under his name. The man was shocked when he kept on receiving Saher violation notifications on his mobile.

When he went to the Traffic Department to inquire, he was told that the violations were registered to a car under his name, which turned out to be the one he had sold to his friend.

“Out of good intentions, I sold him my car without going through the proper channels of authenticating the ownership transfer papers at a registered office. I believed him when he told me that he would do it later,” the Saudi said, adding that he needed half his monthly salary to pay the fines.

He searched for his neighbor and found out that he had moved. He then called him to demand that he transfer the car ownership under his name, but his friend kept on stalling and eventually stopped answering his phone calls.

Traffic department rules state that the registered car owner is responsible for any violations committed.

The department warned people to avoid the mistake of failing to transfer ownership, adding that they will be held liable for violations committed by the driver.

It said that in the case above, the original owner was responsible. In such incidents, the original owner would need to contact police to force the buyer to complete the transfer of ownership procedures.