Fine on a rental car in Italy: the admin fee, the delay and what you can check

Last checked: 31 October 2026 · 3 min read

Short answer. With a rental car the fine reaches you in two steps: first the police contact the rental company, then the company gives them your details and the police send the notice to you. The company usually charges you an admin fee for passing on your details. The fine itself is still yours to pay, unless it was notified too late or has another defect.

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How the process works

The camera records the violation (ZTL, speed, red light) and the police find the owner: the rental company.
The police notify the rental company. The company replies with the renter's details. Under Italian law the renter is jointly liable in place of the owner (art. 196(1) of the Highway Code).
The rental company charges your card an administrative fee, often weeks or months before you hear from the police. Fees of around €40 to €60 per fine are typical, according to The Local.
The police send the official notice to you, abroad. This is the letter that matters for paying or appealing.

Each step takes time, so a fine on a rental car can arrive more than a year after the trip. The European Consumer Centre Germany reports delays of up to 1.5 years.

The admin fee is not the fine

The fee is charged by the rental company for its own work. Paying it does not pay the fine, and it does not mean you accept the fine. In 2024 Italy's competition authority fined six rental companies a total of €18 million for charging customers this kind of fee for passing their details to the police, which it found unjustified, and the European Consumer Centre Germany considers such handling fees inadmissible. If you were charged, ask the company for a refund. The European Consumer Centre in your country can help for free.

Can you appeal for late mailing?

If you live outside Italy, the notice must be mailed within 360 days of the accertamento, the date the violation was recorded and attributed (art. 201). With a rental car the authority may argue that the term for you started only when the rental company sent your details. The authority must be able to justify these dates; it cannot just pick them.

In practice:

If the notice to you was mailed more than 360 days after the violation, it is worth checking. The appeal may hold, depending on when the rental company was notified and when it replied.
If you do not know these dates, you can ask the authority for the documents: the notice sent to the rental company, the company's reply with your details, and the proof of mailing to you. This is a request for access to documents under Italian Law 241/1990.
This request does not stop the clock. You still have 60 days from receiving the notice to appeal (art. 203). If the documents do not arrive in time, the decision to appeal has to be taken on what you have.

What to do now

Keep the envelope, the notice and the card statement with the admin fee.
Paying ends the right to appeal, so check the dates before you pay the fine.
Use our free check and tick "rental car": it tells you whether the dates are worth a closer look and shows your deadlines.

Questions

Why did the rental company charge my card before the fine arrived?

When the police ask who was driving, the rental company passes on your details and usually charges an administrative fee for doing so. That fee is the company's, not the fine. The fine itself arrives later from the Italian authority.

Is the admin fee legal?

Not necessarily. In 2024 Italy's competition authority fined six rental companies, including Avis Budget, Hertz and Centauro, for charging this kind of fee for passing driver details to the police, and called it unjustified. The European Consumer Centre Germany considers such handling fees inadmissible. If you were charged, ask the company for a refund and contact the European Consumer Centre in your country.

Can I appeal a fine on a rental car for late mailing?

Sometimes. The renter takes the place of the owner, and the notice has extra steps, so the start of the 360 days needs to be checked on the documents. If the dates are not clear, you can ask the authority for them, but that request does not stop your 60-day appeal deadline.

Who pays the fine: me or the rental company?

You do. Under Italian law the renter is jointly liable in place of the owner (art. 196(1) of the Highway Code). The rental company only passes your details on.

Sources

General information, checked against the sources listed on the date shown. It is not legal advice for your case. Italian Fine Check is not an Italian authority.