A22 for foreign registered cars

[shanagarry]

I got my transponder from MSCAR in Portimao. I went back there in early December to 'activate' it - that was done while I waited. The lady there told me that I could check on my balance with their (Via Verde) web site or at any Post Office. On the two occasions I went to the Carvoeiro Post Office the nice lady behind the counter went through my paperwork and said she should be able to access my number regardless of the contract. She tried both with the same outcome.

My transponder is with Via Verde and the search has included my car registration number, the transponder number my Financas number and every other number I am identified with.

Incidentally, please don't think that it bothers me - I couldn't care less. I am fully compliant as I have registered as required by law and given them access to my bank account to take the money I owe (DD) - if they can't manage that simple process - why should I care

[RichardHenshall]

If I was you I would care. You have gone to so much trouble to comply and despite that there would still seem to be some problem which might mean that you are not actually as compliant as you think you should be! I accept that you have offered to pay but if there is a glitch you may not be in any better a position than someone driving along the A22 with a 10€ note held out the window shouting "where do I pay"!

[shanagarry]

If I was you I would care.

No Richard - I don't care. I have been in Portugal a long time as both a visitor and now a resident and have in part learned to deal with things with a partial Portuguese mindset. I have many business interests throughout the EU which benefit from looking at matters through very different 'eyes'.There are times when the Portuguese way of looking at life really works.

When in Frankfurt, London or elsewhere in the commercially civilised world I do take care to deal with matters that need to be attended to in a proper manner. In Portugal - the priority is very different as can be evidenced by the way the tolls fiasco has unfolded and to which my reasoning in 'going with the flow' is based. They will sort it out one day but for now it is not something I am going to be too concerned with.

My sympathy is with those unsuspecting law abiding folk who will travel here in the summer and have their holiday part ruined by a bureaucratic screw-up that could quite easily have been avoided if they had used just a modicum of foresight/forethought

[steve]

If you can't identify your account on the Via Verde website I doubt if your transponder has been properly registered with the system. As far as I remember when I checked to confirm the make up of the charges debited to my account I needed to input an "identificador" which was the "No de Serie" shown at the end of the contract. Did MSCAR input the required activation number into the multibanco system to link the transponder contract with your bank account? I trust you will be as sanguine as the Portuguese if eventually large penalties for unpaid toll charges hit you.

[rhody]

Any updates on what happens with foreign registered cars? I'll be driving down with a German registered car and I can tell you from experience that Italy prosecutes aggressively using an outsourced company to get the details of the owner and try and get payment for driving in city centers. They also time it with German law which is that the foreign country as 12 months submit a claim to the German authorities to get the details and send the fine and the fine comes just before that time limit is up. Is Portugal now doing the same with the A22 toll? Are they pursuing foreign registered cars?

The problem with getting a temporary authorization or device is that the Via Verde website wants a tax ID number which is something I obviously don't have as I am not registered in Portugal, nor do I own property there (yet). It seems surprising that there aren't any third party companies renting the devices and taking care of the registration. Last time I was down, I used a company that provided an Internet dongle called Portugal Internet and they were fantastic. Posted the device to the hotel and provided a self-addressed, prepaid envelope to post it back. Dropped it in the post box at the airport.

If I go to the CTT to try to pay there after using the A22, I have the problem that on the day I leave Portugal, they won't have the information to make payment anyway. So the last trip on the A22 would be illegal.

[RichardHenshall]

http://www.portugaltolls.com/en/web/por ... agens/home used to be a useful resource for drivers of non-Portuguese cars on motorways with electronic tolls only but it seems a little broken at the moment.

[rhody]

Yes, I noticed that to the other day when I tried. Looks like it still doesn't work.

Edit: I sent them an email asking about it.

[shanagarry]

3 years on and I am still waiting for the bill to arrive for my considerable use of the A22 when we lived there and drove a UK registered (taxed and insured) car throughout. I've had 2 new cars since then but work on the principle that their inefficiency knows no bounds and one day some bureaucrat will press the wrong button and my name will emerge. Time we moved methinks

[rhody]

Apparently there is this Easy Toll System at the borders now although there was an article about the jams during peak times:

From another forum: http://britishexpats.com/forum/ayamonte ... ry-876032/

EASYTOLL

The EASYToll system is a new solution for automatic payment of electronic tolls, for tourists and immigrants, with the association of a credit card (Mastercard and Visa) to the license plate of the vehicle. The driver, not having to leave the vehicle, enters the credit card in the payment terminal and the system automatically associates the vehicle's license plate to the bankcard. The tolls rates owed are directly debited to the account associated with the card.

At the time of sign up, valid for 30 days, a ticket is issued as proof and must be kept.

The driver is always able to correct license plates numbers or cancel the membership, through the Call Center:

707 500 501 (if in Portugal) or
00 351 287 95 55 (from abroad) or
EasyToll Services.

The sign up has a cost of 0.60€+VAT and each journey has an administrative cost of 0.26€+VAT.

Sign up at the Welcome Points located at the border posts at the following locations:

A28 - Viana do Castelo; A24 - Chaves; A25 – Vilar Formoso; A22 – Vila Real de Santo António