In the Official Gazette (Part I) no. 659 of 18 July 2023 was published Law no. 226 on the application of certain road charges on the national road network in Romania.
The recently published law regulates the application of road tolls on the national road network in Romania, set according to the period or distance travelled.
The tariffs provided for by the new law apply indiscriminately, without being limited to reasons related to:
- the nationality of the user;
- Member State or third country of establishment of the carrier;
- Member State or third country of registration of the vehicle;
- origin or destination of the transport operation.
User charges, tolls and concession fees cannot be imposed at the same time on a vehicle for the use of a single road sector which is part of the national road network in Romania.
By exception, on the road sectors forming part of the national road network in Romania where the user charge is levied, the toll may be charged only for the use of bridges, tunnels and mountain passes.
Rates are set in lei.
The amount of tariffs set in lei is updated annually, according to the consumer price index (IPC) communicated by the National Institute of Statistics for the previous year.
The implementation of the vignette on the national road network in Romania:
According to Law no. 226/2023, starting from 1 January 2026, the vignette applies to all categories of registered vehicles that are used on the national road network in Romania, designed and built for:
a) passenger transport;
b) transport of goods with a maximum authorised total mass (MTMA) of less than or equal to 3.5 tonnes.
The toll is applied according to:
a) vehicle category;
b) pollutant emission class (EURO);
c) duration of use of the Romanian national road network. The duration of use includes the duration of the journey as well as the duration of parking.
Mixed transport vehicles are assimilated, in terms of user charges, to goods vehicles.
The vignette is applied on the national road network in Romania, except for the national road sectors located in the inner city of the municipalities between the entry/exit signs.
Vignette is paid before using the national road network in Romania and is structured according to the duration of its use, as follows: one day, 10 days, 30 days, 60 days and 12 months.
The daily tariff does not exceed 9% of the 12-month tariff, the 10-day tariff does not exceed 12% of the 12-month tariff, the 30-day tariff does not exceed 19% of the 12-month tariff and the 60-day tariff does not exceed 30% of the 12-month tariff.
The payment and issuing of the vignette can be done no later than 30 days before the starting date of its validity.
The categories of vehicles and the level of the toll are approved by order of the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure.
We mention that a valid vignette is an electronic registration within the meaning of Law no. 455/2001, republished, with subsequent amendments and additions, concerning the registration in the SER (Electronic Vignette System) database of the information on the payment of the user fee for a vehicle, corresponding to the category and class of pollutant emissions of the vehicle, in accordance with the provisions of the order of the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure referred to in Article 5 paragraph (4), whose validity period includes the date and time for which the verification is carried out.
The responsibility for holding a valid vignette lies solely with the users.
If no data on the emission class can be provided, the vehicle is classified as Euro 0.
The period of validity of the vignette begins at 0.00 on the first day and expires at 24.00 on the last day of the period for which it has been paid.
By exception, if the start day of the validity period of the vignette is the current day, the validity of the vignette starts at the time of registration of the vignette payment information in the SER database and expires at midnight of the last day of the period for which the vignette has been paid.
CNAIR provides online access for users to the information in the SER database to check the validity of the vignette on the date of the query.
The amount of the vignette is established in lei.
At the CNAIR control and collection agencies at the Romanian state border crossing points, the vignette can also be paid in freely convertible currencies, quoted on the foreign exchange market, at the equivalent of the tariff expressed in lei, at the exchange rate valid for the first day of October, communicated by the European Central Bank and published in the Official Journal of the European Union, which is applied from 1 January of the following calendar year.
According to Law no. 226/2023, vehicles are exempted from the payment of tolls:
- owned or, as the case may be, used under a legal right, according to the data entered in the registration certificate, by:
(i) units of the Ministry of National Defence;
(ii) units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs;
(iii) units of the Romanian Intelligence Service;
(iv) units of the Foreign Intelligence Service;
(v) units of the Protection and Security Service;
(vi) units of the Special Telecommunications Service;
(vii) the National Administration of Penitentiaries and its subordinate units;
(viii) community public services for emergency situations, regulated by Government Ordinance No 88/2001 on the establishment, organisation and functioning of community public services for emergency situations, approved with amendments and additions by Law No 363/2002, with subsequent amendments and additions;
(ix) The National Company for Road Infrastructure Management – S.A. and its sub-units;
(x) State Inspectorate for Road Transport Control;
(xi) the Romanian National Red Cross Society;
- provided for as exempted by international agreements and treaties to which Romania is a party;
- used in local public passenger transport by regular services;
- authorised for school transport;
- ambulance type owned by public authorities/entities.
The cost of the toll tickets issued for people with disabilities, as well as their companions or, as the case may be, their personal assistants, based on the provisions of Article 28 of Law no. 448/2006 on the protection and promotion of the rights of people with disabilities, republished, with subsequent amendments and additions, shall be settled biannually to CNAIR by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, from the amounts allocated from the state budget, provided for this purpose in the annual budget laws, based on the statement submitted by the 15th of the first month of each semester, for the previous semester.
Attention! In the event of a change of vehicle user, the vignette remains valid..
In the case of vehicles registered in Romania, when another registration number is assigned, the vignette remains valid. The Directorate General for Driving Licences and Registration ensures, on the basis of a protocol, the daily access of CNAIR to the data related to the change of registration numbers in the National Register of driving licences and registered vehicles.
In the case of vehicle registration in another country, the vignette remains valid only if the user informs CNAIR in writing of the change of registration number in order to make the change in the SER database.
In case of cancellation of the vehicle, CNAIR will refund the user, at his written request, the amount of the unused period of the vignette.
Legal basis: Law no. 226/2023 regarding the application of road tariffs on the national road network in Romania.