Romania Traffic Fine (Proces-Verbal): Pay Half in 15 Days or Appeal

In Romania a traffic offence — speeding, a red light, a phone at the wheel, parking — is recorded in a proces-verbal de constatare a contravenției: the officer's report that sets the fine. It is handed to you on the road or, when a camera caught it or you were not there, sent by post with acknowledgement of receipt within two months; if the post cannot deliver it, it is posted on the door of your home in front of a witness. The traffic police (Poliția Rutieră) apply the Traffic Code (OUG 195/2002); a town's local police (Poliția Locală) fine parking and local rules under the same general law of fines (OG 2/2001).

The 15 days

• Pay half of the minimum fine within 15 days of receiving it (OG 2/2001, art. 28). The proces-verbal states the fine, the half-minimum and the account: pay at a State Treasury office, by bank transfer or on ghiseul.ro — which asks for the Romanian personal number (CNP), so a visitor may need the bank route.
• Or file a complaint (plângere) with the court (judecătoria) of the place where the offence was found, within the same 15 days (Traffic Code, art. 118). It suspends the fine and any added penalty until the judgment.
• Enter the day you received it on this page and the site counts the 15 days.

Fines are set in penalty units (puncte-amendă) — one unit is 5% of the minimum wage, 216.25 lei since 1 July 2026 — and many offences also carry penalty points: 15 points mean 30 days without the right to drive.

If you do not pay

An unchallenged proces-verbal becomes enforceable and the local tax office collects it — a somație, then seizure. Since late August 2026 a holder of a Romanian licence who has not paid a traffic fine within 90 days loses the right to drive for one day per 50 lei owed. A foreign licence suspended for an offence can be returned at most one working day before you leave Romania, on proof that the fine is paid.

Foreign and rental cars

• Camera fines reach owners in other EU countries through the EU exchange of registration data.
• The police may ask the owner — a rental company too — who was driving; the owner must answer within the period asked.
• Check the plate, the date and the place before you pay.

A lawyer for fines and administrative penalties can read the proces-verbal and file the complaint in Romanian within the 15 days. No vignette: see a rovinieta fine.