Kehl (dpa/tmn)
To South Tyrol, to Tuscany or even further down the boot: Many travel to Italy in their own car. If something goes wrong with the payment of the motorway fee, there is a risk of additional claims.
It’s been a few weeks since my vacation in Italy, when all of a sudden there’s some unpleasant mail in the mailbox: A debt collection agency called Nivi SpA is retrospectively claiming motorway tolls. Those affected should not simply ignore such a letter.
Because from a failed card payment to the wrong lane you chose at the toll station: There can be several reasons why you didn’t pay the toll – maybe unknowingly. That points to that European Consumer Center (EVZ) towards.
In the end, it doesn’t matter whether it’s your own fault or if you didn’t pay for the use of the motorway through no fault of your own: From a legal point of view, you’re still obliged to pay, according to the EVZ.
Toll for the distance driven
Background: Unlike in Austria or Switzerland, for example, where you buy a vignette and can use the entire motorway network for a certain period of time, there is a distance-related toll on Italian motorways. So you pay at toll stations for the passages that you have driven through.
The problem: sometimes paying the toll on the motorway doesn’t work. This can be for a number of reasons, including these:
- Card payment fails: Then the receipt says “mancato pagamento”, which means “not paid”, explains the EVZ. In this case, drivers must pay the toll by presenting this receipt. However, due to a lack of knowledge of Italian, many people take the note for a normal payment receipt and throw it away.
- Free Flow Toll system: On three motorway sections, including the A36 near Milan, there are no fixed toll stations with barriers installed. Instead, the cars are registered by cameras using their license plates, and the amount to be paid is calculated accordingly, explains the EVZ. This is to prevent traffic jams.
- Wrong lane: In Telepass lanes, only cars with the appropriate on-board device can pay the toll electronically. If vacationers accidentally stand in this lane, the barrier will still open for them – even if they can’t pay. The amount due is subsequently requested by the motorway operator.
If one of these scenarios happened, the question arises: How can the motorway toll be paid afterwards so that the debt collection agency does not send letters in the end? The EVZ names two options for this:
1) Drive to a service station of the highway company “Punto Blu”, which is located at more than a dozen larger ones rest stops are to be found.
2) Transfer the amount within 15 days – information is available (in English) at autostrade.it/en/rmpp.
If in doubt, file an objection quickly
Otherwise it can happen that Nivi SpA writes to you, which, according to the EVZ, collects outstanding fees from foreign drivers on behalf of the motorway operator. In addition to the toll, there are also high collection costs.
Good to know: Anyone who cannot understand the claim should file an objection quickly. Also to prevent further warnings. In the letter from the collection agency, those affected will find access data and a link with which they can access their file. The contact details for a possible objection are also stored there.
