Italy clamps down on overdue road tolls

Italian police have sent letters to tens of thousands of motorists all over Europe as part of a major drive to recover overdue road toll fees, Germany's ACE Auto Club Europa reports.

 

An ACE spokesman in Stuttgart referred to a "flood" of letters "out of the blue" and without warning from the Italian Nivi Credit debt collection agency. Most of the invoices contain a demand for immediate payment and date back to 2010 and 2011. They have been sent to motorists who allegedly travelled on toll roads in Italy in recent years and who failed to pay the correct amount at one of the numerous ticket machines and payment booths.

 

The Italian toll system is complicated and for tourists it takes some getting used to. Many motorists realize only much later that they have failed to pay the correct amount. An ACE spokesman warned against settling an invoice without checking the details. The club advised its members in Germany not to pay any fines imposed for overdue payment, since in most cases the invoices were issued too late in the first place.

 

Any toll tickets or receipts should be sent to Nivi Credit, said ACE. The club proposed that the thorny issue of overdue road tolls be regulated in a future bilateral agreement between Germany and Italy. 

 

-Sapa