Substitute Toll and Administrative Penalty Order

Toll Requirement in Austria

For the use of motorways and expressways in Austria, a road toll has been payable to ASFINAG Autobahnen- und Schnellstraßen-Finanzierungs-Aktiengesellschaft since 1997.

In case of non-payment of the road toll, a substitute toll will be demanded or an administrative penalty order issued. Our traffic law attorneys will explain all details to you.

Sebastian Riedlmair
Harlander & Partner Attorneys „Ein Rechtsmittel gegen die Ersatzmaut oder die Strafverfügung macht nur bei eindeutig nachweisbaren Fehlern der ASFINAG oder bei Vorliegen einer Rechtsschutzversicherung Sinn. Ansonsten raten wir aus Kostengründen zur Zahlung der Ersatzmaut bzw. der Verwaltungsstrafe.“

Vignette and Go-Box

The toll collection is carried out by ASFINAG Autobahnen- und Schnellstraßen-Finanzierungs-Aktiengesellschaft. There are different systems for this:

Vignette for Vehicles up to 3.5 Tons

Before entering a toll-required road, either a sticker vignette must be affixed to the inside of the windshield or a digital vignette must be purchased in time.

For the sticker vignette, attention must be paid to correct perforation of the validity period and proper attachment to the inside of the windshield. In case of errors, the vignette is invalid.

When purchasing the digital vignette, attention must be paid to the correct entry of the official license plate and the correct selection of the country code. In addition, consumers must wait for the 18-day withdrawal period (or, as the only alternative, purchase an immediately valid sticker vignette). Finally, in the event of a license plate change due to a change of residence, the change must be reported to ASFINAG.

Vignette Costs in Austria 2024

There are four vignette types to choose from, with costs for cars being higher than for motorcycles:

Go-Box for Vehicles over 3.5 Tons

For motor vehicles over 3.5 tons technically permissible maximum mass (tzGm) – including all trucks, buses, and heavy motorhomes – a performance-based toll applies on Austria’s motorways and expressways: the GO-Toll.

Go-Box

For your vehicle over 3.5 t (tzGm), a GO-Box or an approved vehicle device from other providers (e.g., emotach, Toll Collect) must be activated before using an Austrian motorway or expressway.

The GO-Box is available at GO sales outlets. With a GO-Box, you can pay the prescribed Go-Toll.

Toll Amount

The tariff depends on the distance driven, the number of axles, air pollution, noise pollution, and the vehicle’s emissions. For this, the tariff-relevant characteristics, i.e., the CO₂ emission class and the EURO emission class, must be proven by suitable proof documents. There is no proof requirement for CO₂ emission class 1 and EURO emission classes III, II and I. These are assigned to the highest tariff group anyway.

The proofs must be submitted in advance or within 30 days from the announcement of a tariff characteristic requiring proof at a GO sales outlet to ASFINAG. The tariff-relevant characteristics are only considered successfully proven after successful proof verification and confirmation by ASFINAG. The GO sales outlet does not check proof documents.

Required for proof in any case is:

• Registration certificate of the motor vehicle

Should the tariff-relevant characteristics not be clearly evident from the registration certificate, additional proof documents are required. These include, in particular:

• Customer Information File (CIF)
• Certificate of Conformity (CoC)
• CEMT proof of conformity with the technical and safety requirements for a motor vehicle
• Conformity of Production (CoP)

Special regulations apply to vehicles with test drive license plates, transfer license plates, and interchangeable license plates.

Payment

Payment is made either in advance (Pre-Pay) or retrospectively (Post-Pay).

In case of non-payment (e.g., insufficient toll credit or a blocked GO-Box) or partial payment of the toll (incorrect axle count set or tariff-relevant characteristics incorrectly stored), the toll can be paid subsequently at a GO sales outlet within 5 hours and 100 km.

In case of partial payment of the toll (incorrect axle count set or tariff-relevant characteristics incorrectly stored), the toll can be paid subsequently within 96 hours by phone at the ASFINAG Service Center at 0800 400 12 400 (free from Austria and Germany) or +43 1 955 1266, as well as via the SelfCare portal.

In case of non-payment or late payment of the toll, a substitute toll or an administrative fine must be paid.

Toll-Free Road Sections in Austria

The toll-free sections of the Austrian motorway are toll-free for vehicles up to 3.5 tons. Vehicles up to 3.5 tons do not require a vignette on the toll-free sections.

• A1 West Motorway (Walserberg border crossing to Salzburg-Nord), State of Salzburg
• A12 Inntal Motorway (Kiefersfelden border crossing to Kufstein-Süd), Tyrol
• A14 (Hörbranz border crossing to Hohenems), Vorarlberg
• A26 (Linz Western Ring Road – still under construction), Upper Austria

Anyone who does not leave the toll-free sections at their end, but continues with a vehicle up to 3.5 tons without a vignette, faces the imposition of a substitute toll or an administrative penalty order.

Vehicles over 3.5 Tons on Toll-Free Road Sections

ATTENTION: The toll exemption does not apply to vehicles over 3.5 tons. These vehicles are also obliged to carry and activate the Go-Box on these sections.

Anyone who drives on the toll-free sections with a vehicle over 3.5 tons without an activated Go-Box also faces the imposition of a substitute toll or an administrative penalty order.

Special Route Toll

The special route toll is payable on six sections of the Austrian motorway instead of the normal motorway toll. The reason for the special route toll lies in the particularly high construction costs of the large motorway tunnels and bridges on these routes:

• A 13 Brenner Motorway
• A 10 Tauern Motorway (Tauern Tunnel – Katschberg Tunnel)
• S 16 Arlberg Expressway
• A 11 Karawanken Motorway Southbound
• A 9 Pyhrn Motorway Bosruck
• A 9 Pyhrn Motorway Gleinalm

The sections with special route tolls invariably have toll stations with barriers. The costs vary per section. There are three options each: 1 trip, 2 trips, 365 days. Payment via the Go-Box also works there.

In contrast to normal motorways, which can also be used accidentally without correct toll payment, there are therefore no legal problems on routes with special route tolls.

Other Toll-Required Road Sections

In addition to the toll-required motorways and expressways, there are other toll-required routes in Austria. These are mostly alpine excursion destinations. Here too, there are usually toll stations with barriers, and therefore no legal problems.

Toll Enforcement

The vignette requirement is controlled both electronically and by toll enforcement officers, who are authorized to request vehicles to stop.

Punishability of Toll Evasion

The use of the toll-required road network with toll-required motor vehicles without a valid vignette is prohibited. Motor vehicle drivers who violate this prohibition commit an administrative offense according to § 20 Para 1 BStMG and will be punished by the district administrative authority with a fine of €300.00 to €3,000.00.

However, a penalty will not be imposed if a substitute toll is paid in time instead.

Substitute Toll

The request for payment of the substitute toll can be made personally by a toll enforcement officer, by depositing a written request on the vehicle, or by sending the request by mail.

Common Reasons for Imposing the Substitute Toll

There are many reasons for demanding a substitute toll or imposing an administrative penalty.

Digital Vignette

• Typo when entering the official license plate of the digital vignette
• Incorrect country code when entering the digital vignette
• Forgot to wait for the 18-day withdrawal period
• Failure to change the license plate of a digital vignette when changing residence

Sticker Vignette

• New annual vignette purchased too late
• Vignette purchased later
• Incorrect period of use or incorrectly perforated
• Incorrect attachment of the sticker vignette

Go-Box

• Incorrect data entry
• Tariff-related emission class not proven within 28 calendar days by resubmitting the registration certificate (urgent reporting deadline)
• Driving on toll-free sections for vehicles up to 3.5 t with a vehicle over 3.5 t without activating the Go-Box

Other Reasons

• Leaving toll-free sections with a vehicle up to 3.5 tons on the A14, A12, A14, A26 too late
• Toll requirement overlooked
• No substitute toll request received from ASFINAG
• Typo in the payment instruction for the substitute toll request

Amount of the Substitute Toll 2024

The amount of the substitute toll differs for cars and motorcycles.

If a sticker vignette is manipulated by chemical or technical methods in such a way that it can be removed without self-destruction and multiple use cannot be ruled out, the substitute toll is double the amount.

Substitute Toll for Vehicles over 3.5 Tons 2024

The amount of the substitute toll depends on the reason for the complaint and is, for example,

• 240 Euros if the tariff characteristics requiring proof were not proven in due time and order;
• 240 Euros if the toll was not paid (e.g., insufficient Pre-Pay credit, missing debits due to incorrectly attached GO-Box);
• 120 Euros if the toll was only partially paid (e.g., too few axles set);
• 120 Euros if the vehicle license plate or the carried GO-Box does not match the data stored in the system (vehicle declaration).

Request by Toll Enforcement Officers

Toll enforcement officers are authorized to verbally request the motor vehicle driver to pay the substitute toll. The substitute toll must be paid immediately upon request by the toll enforcement officer in cash or by other permissible payment methods or means. A confirmation will be issued to the motor vehicle driver for this.

Official Observation in the Driver’s Absence

If a violation is observed by toll enforcement officers while the driver is not with their vehicle, for example, because they are at a rest stop and not with the motor vehicle, a written request for payment of the substitute toll can be left on the motor vehicle.

The written request contains, among other things, an identification number, which is stated as the purpose of use, and the bank details, in addition to the amount of the substitute toll to be paid. The substitute toll must be transferred to the account specified in the payment request, stating the identification number provided in the request as the purpose of use.

The request for payment of the substitute toll will be complied with if it is credited to the specified account within two weeks of deposit and the transfer order contains the automation-supported readable, complete, and correct identification number, which is stated as the purpose of use.

Subsequent Request Procedure

If the improper payment of the toll is detected by automatic vignette control without the motor vehicle driver being apprehended, a written request for payment of the substitute toll can be sent to the vehicle owner.

In cross-border procedures, the request for payment of the substitute toll is made in the form of an information letter on ASFINAG letterhead. The written request contains, among other things, an identification number, which is stated as the purpose of use, and the bank details, in addition to the amount of the substitute toll to be paid. The substitute toll must be transferred to the account specified in the payment request or information letter, stating the identification number provided in the request as the purpose of use.

The request for payment of the substitute toll will be complied with if it is credited to the specified account within four weeks from the issuance of the request or the information letter and the transfer order contains the automation-supported readable, complete, and correct identification number, which is stated as the purpose of use.

Loss of the Request for Payment of the Substitute Toll

If the request for payment of the substitute toll is lost, either when left on the vehicle or sent by mail, no claims arise for the vehicle driver or the vehicle owner.

If the substitute toll is not paid in time for any reason, criminal proceedings will be initiated.

Method of Payment

The substitute toll cannot be paid in installments. Should partial payments be received, they will be refunded minus a processing fee of €15.00 (including 20% VAT).

This also applies to late payments after a report has been filed with the competent district administrative authority, payments without specifying the correct identification number, which is stated as the purpose of payment, and payments to an account other than the account indicated on the copy of the request for payment of a substitute toll or an information letter.

In the case of overpayments up to and including EUR 5.00, no refund will be made (otherwise in full).

A properly paid substitute toll cannot be reclaimed.

Non-imposition of Penalty

A penalty will only be waived if the substitute toll has been paid on time and in the rare cases in which the driver is genuinely not at fault for the incorrect payment.

Penalty Order

In the event of non-payment or late payment, a penalty order will be issued.

The amount of the penalty can be legally between €300.00 and €3000.00. In practice, the amount of the penalty is usually between €300.00 EUR and €350.00.

Legal Remedies

Appeals are possible against the substitute toll claim and against the penalty order.

However, an appeal against the substitute toll or the penalty order only makes sense in the event of clearly demonstrable errors on the part of ASFINAG, i.e. if you have done everything correctly and paid on time, or if you have legal expenses insurance.

Otherwise, for cost reasons, we advise paying the substitute toll or the administrative penalty, because the lawyer’s fees are higher than the substitute toll or the penalty. Without legal expenses insurance, the risk of the matter becoming even more expensive is simply too great.

Sebastian Riedlmair
Harlander & Partner Attorneys „Bei Vorliegen einer Rechtsschutzversicherung kann ein Rechtsmittel in vielen Fällen ratsame sein. Wir beraten Sie gerne.“