Portugal Toll Fine: Unpaid Electronic Tolls (Portagens) Explained

Some Portuguese motorways have no toll booths: cameras read the number plate and the toll is charged electronically (portagens eletrónicas). A car with a Via Verde device pays automatically; a car with foreign plates has to be registered before the trip — with EasyToll (a bank card linked to the plate, valid 30 days) or a prepaid TollCard. Paying afterwards at a post office (CTT) is possible only for Portuguese plates. A toll that was not paid becomes a letter.

Tolls ended on some roads in 2025

Since 1 January 2025 there are no tolls on the A22 (Algarve), the A23, A24 and A25, the A4 Transmontana and the Marão tunnel, the A13 and A13-1, and parts of the A28. Trips made before that date are still owed. Other electronic tolls remain, especially around Porto — check the road before you drive.

The first letter: the operator

The motorway operator writes to the car's registered keeper — for a hire car, the rental company, which usually passes your details on or charges your card. The keeper then has 30 business days to pay the toll plus administrative costs, or to name the driver. Enter the day you received the notice on this page and the site counts the last day.

Then: the tax office and a fine

If it is still unpaid, the case goes to the tax office (serviço de finanças), which collects the toll, the costs, interest and a fine (coima): at least five times the toll, never less than €25, and at most twice that minimum. Several unpaid tolls on the same road in the same month count as one fine. Left unpaid again, it becomes an execução fiscal — a tax enforcement that can end with money taken from a Portuguese bank account.

Check before you pay

Pay only through the operator or the tax office named on the letter, never through a link in a text message. If a private collection agency writes to you abroad about a Portuguese toll, check the claim with the operator or the tax office first. A lawyer for fines and administrative penalties can check whether the toll and the fine are right — for example a trip on a road that was already free, or a car that was not yours at the time.