Annual Vignettes To Be Valid for 12 Months After Purchase Date

Annual vignettes entitling drivers to use the roads of the Republican road network will be valid 12 months after the purchase date and not as now until the end of January the following year, decided deputies at second reading of the amendments to the Road Traffic Act.

Another innovation is the addition of three-month stickers for all vehicles, with the exception of trucks weighing more than 12 tonnes and minivans with more than 8 seats, to the existing vignettes valid for a week, a month or a year. These will be useful for people who use their cars on long-distance trips in the summer season only, while during the rest of the year they travel only within their place of residence.

MPs rejected the proposal for the introduction of daily vignettes for cars and motorcycles. These will only be issued for trucks and buses.

The amendments will enter into force on January 1, 2018.

Deputies also adopted a compensatory tax which will be paid by drivers who use the roads without a vignette. The tax will entitle the payees to complete their trips within 24 hours after payment.

The amount of the compensatory tax will be determined by the Council of Ministers depending on the type of the vehicle and it is targeted mainly at drivers transiting Bulgaria. The tax will be paid by drivers entering the country without the necessary vignette and it will be paid at the respective border cross checkpoint.

The introduction of the tax became necessary since drivers fined for travelling without stickers do not pay the penalty en masse.

For Bulgaria drivers, the fine remains unchanged. Depending on the type of vehicle, it varies between BGN 300 and BGN 3,000.

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