With the return from summer holidays, thousands of drivers will find their first electronic “tickets” waiting in their digital mailboxes. The Ministry of National Economy and Finance, in cooperation with the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) and other competent ministries, is preparing to send out fines to more than 350,000 vehicle owners who were flagged during the first electronic cross-check in June for illegal circulation.

The violations are serious and multiple. Out of the 350,000 drivers, 150,000 did not have a valid KTEO roadworthiness certificate, while 90,000 had not paid their road taxes. In most cases, double or even triple violations were found: uninsured vehicles, no KTEO, and unpaid fees. Paradoxically, according to officials, a number of vehicles found to be uninsured had paid their road taxes—meaning they are still circulating on the roads.

At the same time, there are cases where owners did not pay their road taxes but made sure to insure their vehicles, creating a contradictory picture that makes it necessary to fully clean up the private car registry.

The cross-checks are carried out by combining data from available vehicle registries. The first notifications with fines are expected to be sent from late August to early September, with checks to be repeated every six months.

The fines are steep! According to the new legislation:

• €250 to €1,000 for uninsured vehicles
• €400 for lack of KTEO inspection
• Double the amount owed for unpaid road taxes
• Up to €10,000 if a vehicle declared as “off the road” is caught circulating

Owners have the right to appeal within 5 working days. If they comply within 10 days (by insuring, passing KTEO, or paying taxes), the fines are erased. Otherwise, they remain in force, and in case of a repeat check within 3 to 12 months, license plates and registration documents will be confiscated.

At the end of September, motorway cameras will also be activated, which among other things will detect vehicles declared as “off the road” but still circulating. In such cases, fines can reach up to €10,000. Equally crucial will be the fixed cameras already installed in key road locations, spotting uninsured vehicles, those without KTEO, or those illegally circulating while officially inactive. Out of a total of 1,388 cameras, 1,000 will even be able to capture drivers’ faces. Data will be automatically cross-checked with the central databases of the Ministries of Infrastructure and Transport and the AADE, with fines issued instantly and sent electronically.

Additionally, from autumn, the cleanup of the national vehicle registry will begin. Cars without insurance, KTEO, or unpaid taxes for more than 7 years will be deactivated and deleted. To bring them back into circulation, owners will have to pay a €150 reinstatement fee.