Road toll changes in Europe in 2021

Austria

Austria has increased road tolls on trucks over 3.5 tonnes with four or more axles. 

The basic tariff by a kilometre of the Austrian road fee for charging infrastructure costs was adjusted to the inflation rate and increased by 1.5%. This means that the Euro 6 tariff with four or more axles in 2021 is 41.69 cents during the day (it was 40.98 cents in 2020) and 41.82 cents at night (it was 41.10 cents in 2020).

The 1.5% discount for trucks meeting the Euro 6 emission standard will still apply. Importantly, pure hydrogen-powered vehicles will still not have to pay. 

Belgium

From 1st January 2021, new, higher toll rates apply in Wallonia. The reason for the rises is to adapt prices to the situation on the market, i.e. inflation and rising costs.

Flanders and Brussels raised charges in July this year, despite protests from the industry affected by the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Belgian transport organisation Febetra, raising prices during the coronavirus pandemic may prove ‘deadly’ to the industry, but the Belgian Government has not withdrawn from increasing the toll either in the middle of this year nor early next year.

These are the recent toll rates in Belgium:

Due to changes in rates, the OBU software automatically downloads an update (when the box is activated). Depending on the software version, the behaviour of the device may vary slightly. In most cases, it only takes a few seconds to update the OBU with the latest rates before the light turns green. For some boxes, it can take 3 minutes,” explains Satellic, the toll system operator in Belgium.

Some devices will have to restart automatically to complete the update process. The update should not take more than 5 minutes in total, ensures Satellite.

Czech Republic

The most important change in Czech road tolls is the transition from paper to digital vignettes. 

A the same time, emission categories were also revised. Classes have changed as follows:

From:

• EURO 0-II;
• EURO III and IV;
• EURO V; EEV,
• EURO VI and above,

into categories:

• EURO 0-IV;
• EURO V, EEV;
• EURO VI;
• emission category above EURO VI.

Moreover, changes in the motorway vignettes validity have entered into force; annual vignettes are valid for 365 days instead of a calendar year. These changes should already apply in the new electronic motorway toll system.  

From 2021, the charge for heavy goods vehicles over 3.5t for using Czech motorways and some first-class roads is calculated according to three components. Besides the standard toll charge, noise and pollution charges are also included. 

>>> Find the summary of the new road toll prices HERE <<<

France

From January 1, 2021, France has increased tolls of the Mont Blanc and Frejus tunnels by 0.63%. The increase takes into account inflation in Italy and France as well as costs related to the implementation of security controls and apply to all vehicles. You can find the accurate rates on the pages of the Mont Blanc tunnel and the Frejus tunnel. 

Hungary

Road tolls also increased in Hungary. According to the government Decree 209/2013 (VI. 18.), which entered into force on 26 November 2020, the rate of tolls changes every year in proportion to the change in the consumer price index in August. The reference data are provided by the Central Statistical Office, which registered 3.9% inflation in August 2020. Therefore, from January 1, 2021, the following charges apply to Hungarian roads: