In Portugal there are two toll systems, the traditional one with barriers, where you have to stop to get the ticket and pay at the end of the journey, and then there are some motorways without these barriers, where you just get onto the toll road and don't pay at the end of the route. This is where the confusion starts with many people filing to pay tolls because they are simply unsure how to.
This is exactly what happened to Matthew Foster when, in December 2020, he passed along a motorway in the Coimbra region. He didn't realise it was “a toll gate, as there was no barrier or payment booths. Not thinking anything of it, we proceeded on our way”.
From €4 to €200
That was the beginning of an unfortunate series of events. A simple toll worth around €4 has now converted into a fine of about €200. “Currently this 'debt' stands at around €200, which started from a toll fee of around €4.70”, he told The Portugal News.
According to Matthew, he moved to another city in Portugal the following month which led to one of the reasons as to why he didn’t receive the initial fine. Although he notified "the finance office and the car registration department about our new address shortly after moving here”, the letters have never arrived.
It was only in November 2021, that he received a 'fine' on his Portal das Finanças, of more than €80, without even knowing where it came from. “After investigating what this was for, it turned out to be from Via-Verde/Brisa - the private company that owns the toll road I was on in Coimbra”.
Matthew told The Portugal News that he called, emailed and complained to several entities involved, however, this didn’t prevent the fine from getting bigger. “I received an email response from pagamento de portagens - the entity Brisa asked me to email - which in essence stipulated that I must pay it because it had gone past the legal deadline, even though I only found out one month prior!”
Indeed, this is not an unusual situation. It can happen to anyone travelling on one of the following roads: A17, A25, A29, A4, A41, A42, A28, A22, A23 and A24.
ON these toll roads, there are sensors set up along the roads which automatically charge a road user without the need for even a ticket.
Where can I pay the tolls?
Firstly, you will have to wait about two days after using the highway and only after that will the system allow you to pay the fee.
Then, if you have the car registered in Portugal, the toll can be paid in person at any Payshop or at the post office, however, after these 48 hours you only have five days to pay. You can also use the CTT app or CTT’s website. Otherwise, they will send a letter over to you with the amount to pay (with a little increase) that you must pay to avoid the amount rising even more. If you have a foreign registered vehicle, you can pay for a toll card at a post office or CTT’s website, or pay for it through Via Verde visitors or any other service.
If you want to avoid any situation like the one above, check the CTT website, write down your car's registration number and check out if you have any tolls left to pay at https://www.ctt.pt/particulares/pagamentos/pagar-servicos-portagens/portagens/
Paula Martins is a fully qualified journalist, who finds writing a means of self-expression. She studied Journalism and Communication at University of Coimbra and recently Law in the Algarve. Press card: 8252
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I am wondering what Mr foster imagined all the overhead gantries with cameras were for as he passed under them?
By Greg from Other on 05 Jan 2022, 12:44
Its not confusing it just that some people have no BRAIN. !!!!!
By J from Madeira on 05 Jan 2022, 13:15
Of course. Everyone with a brain knows that CTT handles the payment of tolls. And that you have to go there between 2 and 5 days after passing the toll. When your Via Verde did not work
By Gustav from Algarve on 05 Jan 2022, 14:21
The below comments aren't entirely fair, I've also known Portuguese people face a similar situation as this one. It seems the issue here, is the correspondence. He wasn't notified because of the address change. In my opinion, it shows a failure of the Finance department and car registration department for not relaying his change of address.
By John from Other on 06 Jan 2022, 09:16
I would like give an interview about tolls in Portugal, portal das finanças and How to pay them
By John from Lisbon on 06 Jan 2022, 10:51
The first time you encounter this system, it is confusing because many websites that claim to inform fail to provide useful, accurate and complete information, including this article. You can get a transponder in the car for automatic billing or, in case of a foreign-registered car, get the trips billed to a credit card by registering at https://www.portugaltolls.com/en#como-pagar , which is full of useful information.
By TF from Porto on 07 Jan 2022, 09:45
To register an account with CTT you must have a poruguese cell phone.
How clever is that?
By Jan Wiklund from Algarve on 07 Jan 2022, 10:48
I find the first 3 comments in this column unnecessarily condescending.
Since the tolls were introduced, the whole system has been incoherent.
Does anyone really think that the exorbitant penalties are handed out with anything but gleefulness.
By Steve from Algarve on 07 Jan 2022, 18:26
@Greg, many countries (Belgium for example) use overhead gantries with cameras for speed traject control, meaning they measure the time you spent between 2 gantries to calculate how fast you drove on that traject, instead of just using the old single camera pole... As someone who lived in Portugal for 5 years too now, I did not know about different toll situations too, knowing only the Via Verde gates you must drive through and pay / use the via verde token on your window.
By william from Lisbon on 07 Jan 2022, 21:05
I was in Portugal September 2022 and this morning Oct 2023 I have received a letter with a toll road payment required and then a fine for non payment. This is the first I’m hearing about it in over a year. Didn’t even know it existed or I would have paid for it and now I’m left with the payment plus a fine on a hire car off which the hire car company has my details and non of them have changed so I have no idea why I’m hearing about it for the first time in 13 months. It’s ridiculous.
By Rac from UK on 07 Oct 2023, 13:56