Tolls in Austria

A motorway sticker is available as a sticker or in digital form. With the second form, you have to register the vehicle registration number online in good time. The sticker version is available at petrol stations, tobacconists, service stations, vending machines, automobile club bases, etc. The motorway operating company ASFINAG monitors compliance with the toll obligation by means of fully automatic cameras or random checks by its own toll supervisors. The police can also check.

Police penalty

Toll sticker prices in 2023

The motorway vignette is available as a sticker or as a digital product. With the digital version, the vehicle is registered with its number plate. The prices are the same for both versions.

🚗 Car (Multi-track vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes including trailers)

10 Days € 9,90
2 Months € 29,00
1 Year € 96,40

🏍️ Motorcycle (single-track vehicle including sidecar)

10 Days € 5,80
2 Months € 14,50
1 Year € 38,20

Excluded routes

The following five motorway sections allow you to drive without a vignette. They are especially interesting for those driving into Austria from Germany.

A1 Westautobahn between border crossing point Walserberg and Salzburg-Nord in Salzburg
A12 Inntalautobahn between border crossing point Kiefersfelden and Kufstein-Süd in Tyrol
A14 Rheintal/Walgau Autobahn between border crossing point Hörbranz and Hohenems in Vorarlberg
A26 Linzer Autobahn in Upper Austria, as long as construction works are unfinished
S5 Stockerauer Schnellstraße between motorway junction Jettsdorf and Krems an der Donau in Lower Austria

Attention: You should be very careful here not to miss the right exit! Without a vignette, you will otherwise soon be automatically photographed and penalised in a toll section! Be careful with navigation applications and check to be sure that your navigation system does not direct you to a toll section despite your pre-selection of an exclusively toll-free route.

Attention

Schematic map of Austrian motorways showing toll free sections as well as such where the Streckenmaut extra toll has to be paid

Image: ASFINAG

The so-called Streckenmaut (route toll) applies on the following roads. If you ONLY drive THESE sections between these toll stations, you do not need to buy the general vignette. The ASFINAG toll planner provides information on whether a vignette or the route toll is required for a route.

Extra tolls are payable on these six motorway sections:

A9 Pyhrn Autobahn: Bosruck tunnel between Upper Austria und Styria.
A9 Pyhrn Autobahn: Gleinalm tunnel in Styria.
A10 Tauern Autobahn: Section with mit Tauern tunnel and Katschberg tunnel between Salzburg and Carinthia.
A11 Karawanken Autobahn: Karawanken tunnel between Carinthia Kärnten and Slowenia.
A13 Brenner Autobahn, complete route in Tyrol.
S16 Arlberg Schnellstraße, Arlberg tunnel between St. Anton am Arlberg and Langen am Arlberg between Vorarlberg and Tyrol.

But beware, on these routes you don't need a vignette between the toll booths, but you have to LEAVE the "normal" motorway RIGHT ON TIME. If you simply drive on without a toll sticker, you will be penalised. In addition, driving on these sections is NOT COVERED by the general vignette. You have to pay extra at the toll booths there, even if you already have the vignette for the other motorways. Anyone who mistakenly drives through the barrier-free lane at the toll station without having paid the digital route toll will be punished.

Red pictogram shows half open barrier and right of it car tire tracks

Toll station despite Vignette sticker

Adhesive vignette

attach it correctly!

The sticker must be affixed in a clearly visible position before driving. Anyone who carries a sticker that has not been affixed, for example, only in the glove compartment or does not remove the backing film correctly before affixing it, will be punished.

If you are driving a car, it is best to affix the sticker to the inside of the windscreen at the upper edge below any tinting strip that may be present. According to the toll regulations, Part A I 2.2, the toll sticker must be affixed in such a way that the photos of the toll cameras enable image recognition.

On motorbikes, on fixed parts, such as the tank or fork leg, and not on removable panniers or bags.

Red car and red motorcycle with indications correct toll sticker placement

Correct Vignette stickers placement Image: ASFINAG

Validity

of the adhesive vignettes

Annual vignette

Attention, the annual vignette is not valid for 365 days until the cut-off date of purchase (as in some other countries), but for a total of 14 months from 1 December of the previous year until the last day in January of the next year.

When purchasing shorter validity periods, pay attention to the correct punching of the validity:

Red pictogram shows calendar and clock symbol

Consider validity period

aufgeklebte Rote 2023 10-Tage Vignette gelocht am 22 Jänner

Image: EVZ Österreich

10 - day vignette

Here the punched day already counts, so on the tenth day it is only valid until midnight. e.g. punched on 4 July, valid until midnight on 13 July.

2 - Monthly vignette

Valid until midnight of the same day in the following month, e.g. punched on 4 July, valid until midnight of 4 August.

Digital vignettes are not valid immediately!

In Austria, there is a time limit of 18 days for private buyers before vignettes ordered online or the annual digital route toll card are valid. Anyone who uses the motorway before this deadline, even though they have already paid online, will be penalised. The advantage is that the vignette can be returned before this period expires and the licence plate number and validity period can still be changed subsequently during the period.

If a private individual needs an immediately valid vignette or annual route toll card, he or she does not buy the digital version, but must buy the sticker at one of the 6,000 sale points before driving onto an Austrian motorway.

Red pictogram shows credit card and arrow to the left

Withdraw from purchase

Exceptions:

In physical sales outlets (petrol stations, etc.), you can also buy the Digital Annual Vignette as a scratch-off card. After scratching off, a code can be seen on the front. In the online shop on the ASFINAG website, click on "Redeem scratch card" and enter the code as the payment method. The digital annual toll sticker activated in this way is then valid immediately and not in 18 days.
The 18-day period does not apply to the digital single trip route toll. (Attention not vignette!) The digital route toll purchased online for one or two journeys is valid immediately. You can see in the digital route record for which period the licence plate registered with your payment has been activated.

Register correctly!

Incorrectly entered number plates when purchasing the digital vignette or the route toll are penalised in the same way as if you were travelling without one at all. So you should be extra careful when entering the vehicle data in the webshop. Especially if you buy the digital vignette at a petrol station or similar, and where the salesperson enters the number of your number plate. You should immediately check the accuracy of the entries!

As long as the revocation period still exists after the purchase, errors can be corrected; after validity, no correction is possible:

ASFINAG Hotline for Austria, Germany and Switzerland free of charge: 0800 400 12 400
Hotline for other countruies subject to charge: +43 0 1 955 12 66
E-mail: info(at)asfinag.at

Red pictogram shows hand with raised index finger

Check your data input

How penalties are handled

Anyone who does not strictly observe the toll rules and is caught on such roads has committed "toll evasion" in accordance with §20 of the Federal Road Toll Act and will be notified in writing by ASFINAG and must pay 120 euros "replacement toll" within four weeks. In some cases, ASFINAG also reports the incident to the district administrative authority. The authority then imposes an administrative fine of between 300 and 3000 euros, which replaces the demand for the substitute toll. According to the toll regulations, there is no civil law claim to payment of the lower replacement toll of 120; it is at ASFINAG's discretion to initiate the higher administrative claim by the authority.

Red pictogram shows sheet with paragraphs and left of them big § symbols

Regulation of fines

Sequence in the collection

First of all, ASFINAG demands a replacement toll of 120€ either during a spot check on site or subsequently in writing, usually in the national language of the vehicle owner. The replacement toll must be paid within four weeks after the letter is issued.
If the ASFINAG replacement toll has not been paid, or if ASFINAG, at its own discretion, immediately initiates the procedure with the authorities, the replacement toll claim is terminated and the district authority (or the magistrate) takes over the case. The authority now demands a lump sum of 365€ as an anonymous order from the licence holder. This demand is made in writing and without proof of delivery to the address known to the registration office for the vehicle. This payment must reach the authority's account within 4 weeks, otherwise the next step will be taken. This anonymous order also counts as an information letter in accordance with Directive (EU) 2019/520 on cross-border toll collection. No legal remedies are permitted against anonymous orders.
If the anonymous order has not been paid, the authority proceeds to investigate the offender(s) and imposes an administrative fine of between €300 and €3,000. They send an RsB letter with proof of delivery. In the case of foreign licence holders, this claim will be handed over to the corresponding foreign administrative authority for collection. The administrative fine can be appealed in writing (email, post, fax) or orally on the spot to the issuing authority, stating counter-arguments. If the facts are favourable, this may result in a warning, reduction of the penalty or discontinuation of the proceedings. The letter imposing the administrative penalty must have been written by the authority within one year of the toll violation (attention not delivered!), otherwise the claim becomes time-barred and invalid.
If the fine has not been paid and the vehicle is driving in Austria again, the inspection bodies according to § 27 and §28 BstMG are allowed to interrupt the further driving (taking off keys, papers, wheel clamp etc.) and to arrest the vehicle. If the fine is not paid within 72 hours, the authorities may confiscate the vehicle as security. However, this procedure is rather uncommon, as the collection of fines also works well in other EU countries (see step 3).
The claim of the administrative fine can be executed for up to three years, if this does not happen, it becomes time-barred.