Some French motorways have no toll barriers: cameras read the number plate and you pay afterwards — the péage en flux libre (free-flow toll). In October 2026 they are the A79 in the Allier (operator ALIAE, since November 2022), the A13 and A14 between Paris and Normandy (Sanef, since 2024) and the A4 at the Boulay interchange (Sanef); more sections may follow, and signs announce them. A car with a toll badge (badge télépéage) pays automatically. Everyone else has 72 hours after the trip to pay on the operator's website or app, or at a partner tobacconist — with French or foreign plates.
The avis de paiement
A toll not paid within 72 hours is recorded, and the operator sends an avis de paiement to the vehicle's registered keeper: the toll plus a fixed charge (indemnité forfaitaire) of €90, reduced to €10 if you pay within 15 days. Unpaid after two months, it becomes an amende forfaitaire majorée of €375, collected by the State like the fines described under the ANTAI fine. Enter the date of the notice on this page and the site counts the last of the 15 days.
Hire cars and foreign plates
With a hire car, ask whether the rental company pays tolls through its own badge; if not, pay yourself within 72 hours — the operators' sites let you enter the plate and the rental period. A notice sent to the rental company is usually passed on to you, often with a handling fee. For a car registered elsewhere in the EU, operators can find the keeper through the EU exchange of registration data for unpaid road tolls, and collection agencies may write to you abroad.
Contesting
The notice comes with a form to contest it — for example a plate read wrongly, a car sold or stolen before the trip, or a toll you already paid. Keep payment receipts: they are your proof.
Check before you pay
Fake text messages and e-mails about unpaid tolls are frequent. Pay only on the operator's official site (Sanef for the A13, A14 and A4, ALIAE for the A79), at a partner tobacconist, or with the reference on the paper notice — never through a link in a message. A lawyer for fines and administrative penalties can check the notice and the increased fine; one for debt collection can answer a collection agency.
Prepared by Legal Help Tool. Last updated . General information, not legal advice.
