Toll & Vignette Fines: Canada
Canada bills tolls without a barrier — cameras or a transponder read your plate and charge you afterwards. Miss the payment window and it escalates into a fine. Cameras only (Ontario 407 ETR). A bill is mailed with a per-trip video-toll surcharge; pay within about 35 days, or unpaid bills block licence-plate renewal.
Canada
| Country | System | Penalty (local currency) | Key rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada Your country | Free-flow toll | video toll + fees | Cameras only (Ontario 407 ETR). A bill is mailed with a per-trip video-toll surcharge; pay within about 35 days, or unpaid bills block licence-plate renewal. |
| Australia | Free-flow toll | A$190+ (+ admin) | Cameras only. Pay within 3 days (buy a pass) or a toll notice adds admin fees; ignore it and a fine over A$190 follows, risking your licence/registration. |
| Austria | Vignette | €120 – €3,000 | Caught by camera (ASFINAG) and roadside police checks; no grace period — the vignette must be valid before you drive on. Pay the €120 substitute toll (Ersatzmaut) on the spot or on request to avoid proceedings of up to €3,000. |
| Bulgaria | Vignette | BGN 70 – 300 | Caught by camera (BG TOLL); no grace period. Pay the BGN 70 compensatory fee within 14 days of the notice, otherwise the fine rises to BGN 300. |
| Czech Republic | Vignette | CZK 5,000 – 100,000 | Caught by camera (number-plate recognition); no grace period. Fine from CZK 5,000 (on the spot if stopped, or by notice), up to CZK 100,000 for repeat offences. |
| France | Free-flow toll | €90 → €375 | Cameras only ('flux libre' gantries, no booths). Pay within 72 hours online or at a terminal; otherwise a €90 surcharge (€10 within 15 days), rising to a €375 fine after 2 months. |
| Hungary | Vignette | HUF 26,640 – 91,780 | Caught by camera (number-plate recognition); police stops are rare. You have 60 minutes after joining the motorway to buy a vignette; after that the surcharge is HUF 26,640 within 60 days, HUF 91,780 later. |
| Ireland | Free-flow toll | +€4 → +€123.50 | Cameras only (M50 eFlow). Pay by 8 pm the day after you drive; miss it and it climbs +€4, then +€50, then +€123.50. |
| Moldova | Vignette | MDL 5,000+ | Caught by camera and checkpoints, foreign cars included; no grace period. Around MDL 5,000 for under 7 days without a vignette, more beyond. |
| New Zealand | Free-flow toll | NZ$40 (+ NZ$4.90) | Cameras only. Pay within 5 days; after that a toll payment notice adds NZ$4.90, and ignoring it for 28 days brings an NZ$40 infringement. |
| Norway | Free-flow toll | NOK 300 / passage | Cameras only (AutoPASS). Foreign cars are invoiced via EPASS24/EPC; pay by the invoice due date, or a NOK 300 fee is added per passage and the debt goes to collection. |
| Portugal | Free-flow toll | €21 – €108 + fees | Cameras only (ex-SCUT roads, no booths). You don't pre-buy: register a card (Easytoll / Via Verde) or pay at a CTT post office within 5 working days. Miss it and EPC plc chases foreign cars abroad for months; fine €21–€108 plus fees. |
| Romania | Vignette | RON 500 – 1,000 | Caught by camera (ANPR); no grace period. A fine notice of RON 500–1,000 follows, with a 50% discount if paid within 15 days — you must still buy the rovinieta. |
| Slovakia | Vignette | €150 – €800 | Caught by camera (ANPR), with vehicle-owner liability; no grace period. About €150 if paid promptly, up to €800 in administrative proceedings. |
| Slovenia | Vignette | €300 – €800 | Caught by camera and DARS/police checks; no grace period. On-the-spot fine of €300–€800 for a passenger car. |
| Sweden | Free-flow toll | SEK 500 | Cameras only (congestion tax and bridge tolls). The bill is sent automatically; pay by the due date, or a SEK 500 late fee is added. |
| Switzerland | Vignette | CHF 200 + 40 | Caught by police/customs checks and e-vignette cameras; no grace period. CHF 200 fine, and you must still buy the CHF 40 vignette. |
| United Kingdom | Free-flow toll | £35 – £105 | Cameras only (Dartford Dart Charge). Pay by midnight the day after; otherwise a £70 penalty (£35 within 14 days, £105 if late). |
| United States | Free-flow toll | toll + admin/violation | Cameras or transponder (cashless / toll-by-plate). An invoice is mailed; pay by the due date or face violation fees, and rental firms add admin fees (often $15+ per toll). |
Barrier-free roads: convenient until you forget
Two kinds of road charge no longer use a barrier. A vignette is a permit you buy before you drive — once a windscreen sticker, now usually a digital e-vignette tied to your number plate. A free-flow (or cashless) toll has no booth at all: overhead gantries photograph your plate, or read a transponder, and the toll is billed to you afterwards.
Both are smooth when everything is set up — and unforgiving when it is not. There is no gate to stop you and no cash transaction at the roadside, so a missed vignette or an unpaid toll turns into a penalty notice that can arrive weeks later. For foreign and rental cars the bill is often handed to a cross-border debt-collection agency such as EPC plc, which is why a single missed toll in Portugal or Norway can turn into months of letters at home.
The defence is simple. Crossing into a vignette country, buy the e-vignette online before the first motorway sign. Driving a free-flow toll road — especially in a rental — register a payment method first and confirm in writing how tolls are charged. A vignette or toll costs a few euros; the fines in the table above are the price of assuming it was handled.
Always check official sources
Fines, surcharges, grace periods and which roads are barrier-free change often and depend on vehicle category and how quickly you pay. Treat these figures as a guide and confirm the current rules with each country's official operator — especially in a rental car, where you are liable for the charge.
Toll & vignette fines — FAQ
There was no barrier — how can I owe anything?
That is exactly how these systems work. Vignette countries sell a permit in advance; free-flow toll roads photograph your number plate (or read a transponder) and bill you afterwards. No gate stops you, so it is easy to drive through without realising — and a charge is created automatically.
I had a rental car — am I still liable?
Yes. The toll operator bills the registered owner (the rental company), which then charges you, usually plus an administration fee. A 'toll account' on a rental is not always active — confirm it in writing, because if it is not, the unpaid toll becomes your problem.
Can an unpaid foreign toll really follow me home?
It can. Operators in Portugal, Norway, Sweden and elsewhere hand foreign-plate debts to cross-border collection agencies such as EPC plc (Euro Parking Collection) in London, which pursue drivers across Europe months after the trip.
Is the penalty in euros everywhere?
No. The table shows each penalty in the local currency — Swiss francs (CHF), Czech koruna (CZK), Hungarian forint (HUF), Bulgarian leva (BGN), Romanian and Moldovan lei (RON / MDL), Norwegian krone (NOK), Swedish krona (SEK), British pounds (GBP), US, Canadian, Australian and NZ dollars, and euros where applicable.
What is the safest habit?
Before you reach the first motorway sign, either buy the e-vignette online or register a payment card for free-flow tolls. In a rental, ask exactly how tolls are handled. A vignette or toll costs little; the fines on this page do not.
Why aren't barrier toll booths in this list?
Because a booth physically stops you and takes payment on the spot — you cannot accidentally skip it. This guide is about roads where nothing stops you, so the charge (and any penalty) arrives later.
Where is it easiest to get caught out?
Free-flow toll roads in a foreign rental car — Portugal's ex-SCUT roads are the classic example. Drivers assume the rental's toll device is active, drive through, and months later receive a penalty notice from a collection agency.