Many motorists had the very unpleasant surprise this summer of receiving a hefty fine when returning home.
It’s one of the first things the French do when they come back from vacation: open their mailbox. And this summer, many of them had a very unpleasant surprise when sorting their mail. A letter with a payment notice was distributed to many motorists during the summer period. A mailing from ANTAI for having been caught speeding by one of the 4,600 speed cameras on French roads? No doubt for some, but not only. Several hundred drivers were caught by motorway companies.
If you are one of them, it is because you have surely taken one of the motorways now equipped with free-flow tolls. This real revolution, which consists of replacing traditional toll barriers with gantries equipped with cameras to read vehicle registration plates, has not made everyone happy among the millions of holidaymakers. And for good reason, a certain number of motorists were unpleasantly surprised to receive a fine of 90 euros to pay after driving on a section of the A79 motorways, between Allier and Saône-et-Loire, A14 in Yvelines, or A13 in Eure.
Until recently, every driver was used to paying directly for the motorway without having to do a single thing. A ticket to be taken when entering a toll section and payment to be made by credit card or in cash when leaving. With these new tolls, you have 72 hours to pay for your journey. Once the deadline has passed, you are guilty of an offence which is materialised by a payment notice being sent to your home. The motorway company then asks you for 10 euros which is added to the amount of the unpaid journey. After 15 days, the fine increases from 10 to…90 euros!
This is the amount that was demanded from many holidaymakers who had been away from home for more than two weeks and who had forgotten to pay the motorway on the outward journey. Most of them did so because they did not know the procedure to follow to pay these new free-flow tolls, which inevitably created confusion and anger.
Some people, who thought it was a hoax when they opened the mail, were literally disappointed when, two months after the first payment notice was issued, the amount of the infraction rose to 375 euros! Hence the importance of knowing the different means of payment for these new tolls that will be developed all over France. What are they?
– Pay for your journey directly at one of the terminals located at motorway service stations
– Pay for your journey within 72 hours on the motorway company’s website
– Pay for your journey within 72 hours in one of the many bars-tabacs-presses in the Nirio approved network
If you have a toll badge, there is nothing more to do than usual since it is read each time you pass under a gantry, just like when you go through a traditional toll barrier. You can also make your life easier by creating a customer account with the motorway company before your journey by registering your vehicle’s registration plate and your bank card number. In this case, as with toll badges, the debit is automatically made from your bank account a few days later. A good solution for forgetful people who forget to pay the bill for their motorway trip. This helps avoid unpleasant surprises when you return from holiday.