The preparation of the electronic vignette is under way. The Ministry is clear on how the checks wil

“The new electronic vignette system will bring greater comfort to drivers. The vignette can be bought at any time in the e-shop, mobile application or also in a network of points of sale. For the state, the electronic vignette means an annual saving of up to CZK 100 million for printing, distributing or destroying vignettes. In addition, drivers will get rid of the inconvenience of sticking a paper vignette on the car's windshield and and then removing it,” said Minister Kremlík. The Ministry of Transport plans that the sales of the new electronic vignettes will start in December 2020.

Will there be any exceptions?

All vehicles with at least four wheels will have to buy an electronic vignette when using a toll road, while their maximum permitted weight must not exceed 3.5 tonnes. Vehicles powered by electricity, hydrogen or in combination with other fuels shall be exempt from the obligation to pay toll roads (if the CO2 value does not exceed 50 g/km) and also historic vehicles fitted with a special license plate and historic vehicle license. This also applies to vehicles carrying persons holding a ZTP or ZTP/P card and at the same time being the operators of those vehicles or persons close to the operator.

The same rules will continue to apply to vehicles operated by homes for persons with disabilities if they are used for the carriage of such persons and also to vehicles used for the carriage of dependent children who are being treated for cancer or haemoblastosis. The exemption also applies to organizations and public authorities defined in the law, e.g. the Police of the Czech Republic, Customs Administration, toll road administrators, integrated rescue system components, etc.

How the checks will be performed

“The Police of the Czech Republic and the Customs Administration will be responsible for checks on toll roads in road traffic by means of cameras placed in vehicles, or on a tripod next to the road or at toll gates. The cameras will scan the license plates of passing vehicles and this will make the supervision work much more effective,” explains Zbyněk Hořelica, Director of the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure. The system will then immediately verify the validity of the electronic vignette in the database or determine whether the vehicle is exempt from payment. Control authorities will thus be able to respond flexibly to possible violations of the law, i.e. non-payment of the time-based charges.

The Ministry of Transport also expects to use toll gates that will not be used by CzechToll for its purposes in order to perform checks. The amendment to Act No. 13/1997 Coll., On Roads, expects to use control posts to increase the effectiveness of mobile control and also for statistical purposes, such as monitoring the rate of potential offences.

Funds from the sale of electronic vignettes will be the income of the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure and will continue to be used for repairs and to build new road constructions.