Key takeaways
- From 26 June 2026, Denmark has resumed issuing administrative fines for road-toll violations involving heavy vehicles.
- Penalties range from 2,000 Danish kroner (around 1,140 złotych) to 9,000 Danish kroner (around 5,130 złotych), depending on the infringement.
- A central feature is the “six-hour rule”, which allows certain minor issues to be treated more leniently.
- Færdselsstyrelsen may cancel a fine in specific cases, including clear errors when entering a vehicle’s registration number.
- DTL welcomes the changes, but wants earlier fines issued before the system was paused to be reassessed.
The revised approach follows a circular published by Denmark’s Ministry of Transport, Rural Areas and Cities. It sets out updated instructions for the Danish Road Traffic Authority (Færdselsstyrelsen), which again has the power to impose administrative fines for toll-related violations.
Instead of a single fixed penalty, the rules introduce a tiered system, ranging from 2,000 Danish kroner (around 1,140 złotych) to 9,000 Danish kroner (around 5,130 złotych), depending on the type of breach. The Danish haulage association DTL (Danske Vognmænd) has welcomed the changes after months of arguing that the previous system was disproportionate.
Fines return after a six-month pause
Administrative penalties were suspended on 18 December 2025 by the then transport minister Thomas Danielsen. The only exceptions were cases involving deliberate toll evasion.
DTL says the suspension followed a wave of cases in which very high fines were issued for minor formal errors, alongside technical problems affecting the system’s operation.
It is a significant improvement that fines are now more differentiated. It ensures fairer treatment for carriers who make small mistakes, while still keeping tough sanctions for deliberate abuse, said Erik Østergaard, CEO of DTL.
Three fine tiers instead of one flat amount
Under the new model, the sanction depends on the circumstances of the breach:
- 9,000 Danish kroner (around 5,130 złotych) – primarily when a vehicle uses toll roads without an active EETS contract and without a valid route ticket.
- 4,000 Danish kroner (around 2,280 złotych) – for example, when a route ticket was purchased but the vehicle is found to have driven on a section not covered by the paid route.
- 2,000 Danish kroner (around 1,140 złotych) – for less serious issues, such as when a ticket exists but its validity differs from the time of inspection by no more than six hours. The same level may also apply when data from an EETS on-board unit reaches the system late, provided the delay still falls within the six-hour window.
The six-hour rule adds flexibility
One of the most important elements of the update is the six-hour rule. It is intended to cover situations in which the toll was paid, but there were minor timing discrepancies or limited technical issues.
The circular also allows the authority to refrain from issuing an administrative fine — or to cancel one after an objection is reviewed — where there are specific mitigating circumstances. This includes cases where the difference in ticket validity is no more than two hours, or where driving outside the paid route was only marginal.
No more fines for obvious typos
Another key change is the option to cancel a penalty where the problem is clearly an input error in the vehicle registration number.
If the operator can show the toll was paid and the mismatch results solely from an error such as transposed letters or digits, a missing character, or an incorrect separator, Færdselsstyrelsen may overturn the fine.
The rules also allow cancellation where it can be documented that the toll was paid for the route corresponding to the journey, despite minor inaccuracies in vehicle details.
Only one fine per vehicle within 24 hours
The updated framework also limits how many penalties can be issued to the same vehicle.
Within a 24-hour period, the administration can issue only one administrative fine per vehicle. If several violations are identified during that time, only a single sanction applies — set at the highest level linked to the most serious breach recorded within that window.
The aim is to prevent situations in which a single technical issue triggers multiple high fines on the same day.
DTL: earlier fines should be revisited
DTL says the new rules better reflect proportionality and give operators greater legal certainty.
However, the association continues to call for a fresh review of penalties issued before the enforcement pause.
The minister’s decision to pause the system was, in practice, an acknowledgement that the fines issued for almost a full year were completely disproportionate. These cases should be reassessed to restore fairness, Erik Østergaard stressed.
DTL also expects that technical issues linked to on-board units have been resolved, and that the Danish Road Traffic Authority will apply the updated rules more flexibly than before.
