Traffic fines in Portugal: how you find out, how to pay and how to appeal
A fine in Portugal runs on its own clock: the slip under the windscreen wiper is not yet a fine, the letter arrives months later and goes to your tax address, and deadlines are counted in working days and not from the day you opened the envelope. After that, everything comes down to two forks in the road. The first: pay straight away at the minimum or lodge a defence — you can't do both. The second, where people lose money most often: the defence goes not to whoever wrote the report but to whoever makes the decision, and for parking that is the town hall, not ANSR and not EMEL. Here it is in order: how you find out about a fine, how much you pay and by when, how to appeal, what happens to your points and licence, and what a wheel clamp and a tow truck cost.
The slip under the wiper is not yet a fine
The first thing that confuses people: what gets put under the wiper is usually not a fine but a notice that a report of an offence has been drawn up — an auto de contraordenação. It often has no payment details at all, and you can't pay using that slip. The fine itself will come later in a separate letter.
By law you can be notified in four ways (article 176 of the Highway Code): in person on the spot at a check; by registered letter with proof of delivery; by ordinary letter if the registered one came back; and electronically — but only to the single digital address (morada única digital), the state electronic notification service under Decree-Law 93/2017, which a person signs up to themselves. If you haven't signed up, you cannot receive electronic notices of fines.
This gives a simple rule worth remembering: an email or text message about a “fine” with a payment link is a scam. On 30 June 2026 ANSR (Autoridade Nacional de Segurança Rodoviária — the national road safety authority) specifically reminded people that it does not send notices of offences by email, text message or messaging apps, and never asks you to pay via a link in a message: all its notices go only by paper letter. How these mass messages work and what to do if the money has already gone is covered in the guide How to spot fraud in Portugal.
What to do with the slip under the wiper: photograph the whole thing on both sides and keep it. It shows the report number and the name of the office that issued it — that is all you will need to find the case later. If the slip got soaked or blew away, never mind: the case won't go anywhere because of that, a letter will come.
“Hi everyone! Please advise, has anyone come across this: I found this notice of an offence under my windscreen (Participação de Trânsito from the PSP in Santa Maria da Feira). There are no payment details — just a record of the offence. I’d be very grateful for any tips and your experience!”
Translated from Ukrainian; the original is at the linkukrporto26.08.2026
“A question about a parking fine. EMEL put a fine ticket under my wife’s wiper, but they were supposed to send a letter in the post so it could be paid. In several months the letter hasn’t come.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt23.08.2026
“advice please from anyone who’s had a similar experience: I got a fine for parking wrongly in Sintra, they put a slip under the wiper. No payment details on it, just an offer to email them all my details within five working days to minimise the amount of the fine. I happily missed those 5 days, it’s been a month already.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt04.07.2026
The letter goes to your tax address, not to where you live
The most common problem is a fine that a person finds out about a year later, when the deadlines have passed. The reason is almost always the same: the letter went to the wrong place.
In the chats people advise going to change your address at IMT (Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes — the institute for mobility and transport) or in the vehicle register. The advice does no harm, but it doesn't solve the main thing. Under paragraph 7 of article 176 of the Highway Code, for offences connected with driving and with a vehicle's fitness for the road, your address is the one recorded in the tax authority's database as your tax address (domicílio fiscal). Not the address in the registration document, not the address on your licence, not where you actually live — but the one the tax authority has.
What follows from this. If you have a citizen card, change the address on it: the law gives you 60 days from moving, it can be done online or at an office, and the tax authority receives the new address automatically. If you don't have a citizen card but have a residence permit, the address is changed in your personal account on the Portal das Finanças or at a tax office. You can check what is recorded now in the same place: a certificate of your tax address is issued free of charge.
The second thing almost nobody knows. The deadline is counted not from the day you opened the envelope but from the day the law treats as the day of service (paragraph 9 of the same article): for a registered letter — the day of the signature on the proof of delivery, and if someone else signed, the third working day after; for an ordinary letter — the fifth day after it was sent; for an electronic notice — the fifth day after it appeared in the system. So a letter that sat with the concierge for a week has already eaten a third of your time.
And the third: a wrong address does not cancel liability. The case goes ahead on its own, a decision is made without you, and you find out about it when a demand for payment arrives or when you are stopped on the road.
“you should go to IMT/IRN and update your address in their records. because a wrong address doesn’t free you from liability, and new fines won’t arrive either.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkMotorbike chat 🇵🇹14.08.2025
“the funny thing is I think the address there is correct because a fine for speeding already came to my address before.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkMotorbike chat 🇵🇹14.08.2025
“I need to make sure that all speeding fines will come to my new address.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkru_Portugal_pt21.09.2025
How to check whether you have any fines
Traffic offences handled by ANSR can be seen on its offences portal (Portal das Contraordenações). You can only log in with a citizen card and a card reader or with the Chave Móvel Digital digital key; that is also where you can see your points, lodge defences and request payment in instalments. The link to the portal is the first button on ANSR's page about offences.
An important caveat that leads people to decide they have no fines. Minor parking offences — prohibited parking, incorrect parking and abandoned vehicles — have been handled by municipalities since 2019, under Decree-Law 107/2018 of 29 November. There are no such cases on the ANSR portal at all: you have to ask the town hall of the town where you were parked, and in Lisbon — EMEL and the town hall.
Without a citizen card and a digital key there is still the in-person route: go to a PSP (city police) or GNR (gendarmerie) station where you live — to the offences section. They will tell you what is recorded against you and accept your papers. The full list of addresses where this is done is on the ANSR website: ANSR itself does not see members of the public.
There is also a paid way to find out everything at once — a certificate of your offences (certidão de registo de infrações do condutor, RIC) on form F301. Through the portal it costs from €50, by post from €71, and takes about five working days. An ordinary person doesn't need it: employers ask for it when hiring drivers.
“if only they’d at least collect these pennies properly… And as for fines, total nightmare… The other day I broke parking rules a couple of times, not on purpose… And you’ll go mad trying to find out how to pay, sending some forms somewhere, waiting for a letter that never arrives anywhere… They can’t even take money properly…”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt26.06.2026
“You definitely shouldn’t forget! Unpaid fines grow with a hefty penalty.”
Translated from Ukrainian; the original is at the linkukrporto26.08.2026
“I think that if there’s an unpaid fine, it’s best to pay it. Who knows where it’ll shoot you in the foot later :). in a year, five, ten )”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt13.05.2026
How much to pay and by when
A fine in Portugal — in Portuguese it is called a coima — has not one amount but a range: the law sets a minimum and a maximum. Parking where it is prohibited — €30 to €150 (articles 49 and 50 of the Highway Code), and if you blocked an entrance, parked in a disabled space or on a pedestrian crossing — €60 to €300. Speeding in town by up to 20 km/h is a minor offence, €60–300; by 20 to 40 km/h — serious, €120–600; by 40 to 60 km/h — very serious, €300–1,500; by more than 60 km/h — €500–2,500. Outside towns all the thresholds are 20 km/h higher.
Now the main thing about money. If you pay within the first 15 working days from the day the notice was served, you pay the minimum of the range — €30 instead of “up to 150”, €60 instead of “up to 300”. This is not a discount for being quick but a procedure written plainly into the law: article 172 calls it voluntary payment at the minimum. There is a difference afterwards too: you can pay the minimum at any time before the decision, but from that day costs are added to the amount — custas, at least €52.50, that is half an account unit (unidade de conta, UC), which is worth €105.
In the chats a different version goes round — “paying within 14 days gives you a 50% discount”. There is no such rule, and the day is not the fourteenth but the fifteenth working day. The feeling of a discount comes from something else: having paid €30 where the law says “up to 150”, a person genuinely feels they have saved money.
You pay using the details in the notice itself, and after the decision — with a single payment document, the DUC, at a Multibanco cash machine or through online banking; the DUC becomes active four working days after it is issued. If you can't manage the amount at once, there is payment in instalments on form F303: it is granted if the range itself starts at €210 (that is 2 UC), with payments of at least €50 a month, over no more than 12 months. Miss one payment and the plan is cancelled, and the whole remaining amount is demanded at once.
“A parking fine ticket. It was raining, I didn’t notice the ticket under the wiper. Started the car, the wipers came on, the ticket was wet, the second half got torn off and shredded. And is there a discount for paying a fine early. For example for speeding, paying within 14 days - 50%.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt28.10.2025
“Just a letter in the letterbox. Better not to break the rules here. The minimum fine for speeding, +5 over the limit is €150. Parking can cost more if they manage to put a clamp on.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkchatlisboa25.11.2025
Pay or appeal: you can't do both
This is the fork in the road where people lose the most. Voluntary payment closes the case — but only if the offence is punished by a fine alone. If it carries an additional sanction — a driving ban or seizure of the vehicle — the case goes on, it is just no longer about money but about that sanction (paragraph 4 of article 172). A person pays, relaxes — and a few months later gets a letter with points deducted and a ban.
That is exactly why paying on the spot when you disagree is a bad idea. The law has a separate route for those who disagree: a deposit (article 173). Within 48 hours of the notice you can pay an amount equal to the minimum fine, not as payment but as security. If you lodge a defence in time and are not penalised, the money is refunded on form F308. If you don't lodge a defence, after 15 working days the deposit turns into payment automatically. The point of the deposit is simple: your documents won't be taken on the spot, and you can still appeal.
And the flip side: if you are not going to pay and don't make a deposit, at a roadside check they will take your licence or your vehicle documents as security (paragraph 4 of the same article) and give you a temporary paper in their place — a guia de substituição, valid for six months and extended until the end of the case.
As for the advice that “the Portuguese just appeal everything and the case lapses”: the limitation period for a traffic offence is two years from the day of the offence itself, and it is interrupted when you are served with the decision. Cases really do sometimes fall apart on time limits, but betting on that is a lottery, not a plan of action.
“Just talked to a lawyer, he says remember this yourselves and tell others: never pay a fine on the spot if you disagree. The thing is, the cop on the spot only takes a "deposit" and isn’t authorised to impose the final sanction, but by paying the fine you admit guilt. On top of that deposit they can impose any amounts within the article, points, bans – anything. Paying the fine on the spot doesn’t solve anything at all.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkMotorbike chat 🇵🇹13.04.2026
“Matricula - NIF - licence. It’s all clear and simple here. Paid yourself == guilty. Hooray, there’s someone to take points off.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt23.04.2026
“let me share a story about speeding. in 2023 I was in Guarda and, without knowing it, got caught by a speed camera. at the end of 24 (more than a year later I think) a fine came, I don’t remember exactly, either 60 or 120 euros. well I was a bit sad and paid, what can you do... but recently (i.e. another year later) out of the blue comes a lovely letter saying the court has ruled that by paying I admitted guilt, and since the offence is serious, minus 2 points from my licence and a 30-day ban from the moment I receive the court decision (and of course I signed for it) .... but the ban is suspended for six months as a probation period. i.e.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt28.10.2025
“Very roughly and superficially: There were 2-3 stories where hasty people like that paid the fine, then got a registered letter and with it - minus 2-3 points from the licence. In Portugal the burden of proof is on the municipality. The Portuguese, by and large, appeal fines. The limitation period on them is several years or so and by the time the municipality proves the fine was issued lawfully - it expires. So everyone who pays fines is like manna from heaven for the "quota chasers": they have to make their statistics somehow.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt05.03.2026
Who to send the defence to — and why that is the key point
A defence (defesa) is lodged within 15 working days from the day the notice was served. The same deadline applies to a request to reduce or suspend an additional sanction (form F302) and to a request for instalments.
And now the reason this page was written. The defence goes not to whoever wrote the report but to whoever makes the decision. For traffic offences handled by ANSR, it is addressed to its president. But for minor offences connected with parking, the municipality decides — and ANSR itself says plainly that such defences should not be sent to it: they go to the office named in the notice. In Lisbon the report is written by EMEL, and the decision is made by the town hall or ANSR; if you send it to EMEL, they promise to forward it, but you will lose time. The recipient's address is always given in the notice itself, and that is where to look for it.
What the defence must contain: the report number (nine digits, in the top right-hand corner of the notice), your name, an account of what happened, your grounds and your request, and your signature. In Portuguese — that is a legal requirement, not a courtesy. The ready-made form is F305. You can name no more than three witnesses; there will be no separate hearing, so everything you want to say must be written down at once.
You can submit it through the offences portal, by email to ANSR (but only signed with the digital certificate of a citizen card), by registered letter to its address in Barcarena, or in person at the offences section of the PSP or GNR. You don't need a lawyer, either here or later in court.
Two moves worth knowing. First: if the offence is speeding and no photograph was enclosed with the letter, you can request it on form F304, and then the deadline for the defence is suspended. Second: a request to see the case file, made within the same deadline, also suspends it. So “I don't remember any such offence” is not a dead end: first you request the evidence, then you write on the substance.
Nobody will tell you how long to wait for an answer: ANSR has no deadline for dealing with defences, and the answer is the decision on the case itself.
“I’ve also got experience of contesting a fine, but it’s not finished yet) it’s being contested at Lisbon town hall)”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkMotorbike chat 🇵🇹01.06.2026
“From the moment I got the letter I have 15 days to contest the offences (4 days left already, since I’m writing here in the chat late). I haven’t heard of any precedents of fines for flying a drone in the ru community, so so far I’ve been talking to chat gpt.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkchatlisboa20.05.2026
“And how can I request evidence from emel of wrong parking (in a space for cars), because they gave me a fine and I don’t remember that.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkMotorbike chat 🇵🇹16.05.2026
“I got a fine, and I don’t think it’s valid.”
Translated from Ukrainian; the original is at the linkukrporto18.04.2026
I wasn't driving: someone else's, a company or a hire car
When an offence is caught by a camera and the driver in the photo can't be identified, the report is made out to the person registered as the owner of the vehicle, and the case proceeds against them (paragraph 2 of article 171). This is not final: within the same deadline as for a defence, the owner can name the actual driver — form F306, with all their details: name, tax address, ID document number, licence number. The case against the owner is then suspended and a new one is opened against the named person. You don't need to pay anything: the named driver will wait for a notice in their own name.
For companies and for vehicles on leasing or long-term rental the rule is stricter: they must name the driver within 15 working days, otherwise the case will proceed against them.
Hire cars work the same way, but with an extra: the hire company will name you as the renter, and under the contract will charge you a fee for processing the fine — separate from the fine itself, which will come later by letter. Check that line in the contract in advance: the amount differs from company to company, and people usually find out about it from their card statement.
And something worth doing once and for all: if you sold a car, make sure the change of owner is registered. While you are on the register, letters about other people's offences will come to you, and you will have to deal with them. How a sale is formalised is explained in the guide How to buy a car in Portugal.
“A registered letter comes that you sign for and in it there’s proof and an offer to pay the stated amount through multibanco, the blame will automatically fall on the owner of the car, then they can take points off the licence accordingly.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt20.06.2026
“First they send a letter in the owner’s name, if you pay you’re automatically found to be the offender and they take points off. You can contest it and then the hassle of establishing who was driving at the time begins. Technically it’s impossible to prove the owner was at the wheel and not tourist Vasya. The case will hang around for a year or two and lapse. Or as people advised agree who among your own people to name as the culprit and then the fine and minus points will go to that person.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt23.04.2026
“Luckily in 4 years and over 200 thousand km driven around Portugal I haven’t had a single fine) They come to the company for cars that were sold, but I send them info that the car was sold”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt05.03.2026
“don’t know about europcar, at another portuguese hire company they took money for processing the fine (it’s written in the contract, I checked), and the fine itself came by post later. i.e. we paid twice”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt13.02.2026
The decision, the court and what happens if you stay silent
Once the defence has been considered (or if you didn't lodge one), a decision is issued — the decisão administrativa. It states what you did wrong, how much to pay, what the costs are and whether there is an additional sanction.
From that day you have 15 working days for two things at once: to pay or to appeal to the court. The appeal (impugnação judicial) is addressed to the judge of the judicial district where the offence took place, but it is submitted — note this — to the same office that issued the decision: ANSR or the town hall. Until the court has heard it, the decision does not take effect: no ban, no points deducted. ANSR charges no fee; the court may.
If you stay silent, the decision becomes final. After that, under the law: if you haven't paid, a certificate of debt is issued and sent to court for enforced recovery. At any roadside check they will take your licence or vehicle documents, give you a temporary paper valid for 15 calendar days — and if you don't pay within those days, they will take the car itself: it answers for the debt (article 174). And failing to comply with an additional sanction — that is, driving while banned — is no longer a fine but a criminal case for disobedience.
And about the time limits that people in the chats talk about hopefully. The limitation period for the offence itself is two years; for a fine and sanction already imposed it is also two years from the day the decision became final. In conversations people say three years; ANSR's rules say two.
“Upd. If you can’t hand in your licence, then we file an appeal within 15 days of receiving the lovely letter (yourself or with a lawyer). We take the appeal to the police (psp), in return we get a slip with the case number. While the appeal is being considered the sanction decision is suspended, so neither the ban nor the points deduction applies. The limitation period is 3 years, after three years the decision is automatically cancelled if they don’t manage to respond to the appeal (and in practice they don’t).”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkMotorbike chat 🇵🇹16.04.2026
“A friend of mine straight away got a decision banning him for a month at the end of 2025 for an offence in 2023 (the notice never came, got lost on the way).”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt28.07.2026
“I had a fine at the end of January, and the court decision deducting points came in August”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt25.04.2026
“For now the strategy is to reduce the fine as much as possible, and then think about whether to pay it at all. Maybe it’ll be wiped after a while. It’s not a police fine, it’s a fine from ANAC. Dunno what they can do, it took them 1.5 years just to put the letter together.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linksurflisbon20.05.2026
Points and driving bans
The system is called carta por pontos — a points-based licence. Every driver has 12. They are deducted only once the decision has become final — not on the day you were stopped, and not on the day the letter came. Hence the stories about an offence in January, a fine arriving in spring and points deducted towards the end of the year.
How many are deducted: for a serious offence — 2 points, and if it involves alcohol, speeding, overtaking on a pedestrian crossing or a phone in your hand — 3; for a very serious one — 4 points, for alcohol and drugs or speeding in a shared zone — 5; for a road traffic crime — 6. For several offences on the same day no more than six are deducted.
Then the ladder kicks in. With 5 or 4 points left — a compulsory road safety course at your own expense: you must sign up within 10 days and complete it within 180. With 3, 2 or 1 left — retaking the theory test at IMT within 90 days. Zero — you lose your licence, and you can only get a new one after two years. Didn't turn up for the course or failed the theory — the same two years.
Points are also given back: three years without serious offences — plus 3 points (two years for professional drivers), and one more point is given when you renew your licence if there were no road traffic crimes during the period and you took a voluntary course. The ceiling is 15 points, up to 16 with renewals.
Separate from points is the driving ban — inibição de conduzir: for a serious offence — from a month to a year, for a very serious one — from two months to two years. If within five years you are caught a second time for an offence carrying such a sanction, the minimum is doubled. A ban can also be suspended: 30 days imposed but deferred for 180 — you keep your licence, but if you commit another major offence within those six months, you will have to hand it in after all. Licences are handed in at the offences section of the PSP or GNR, and the ban runs from the day you hand it in, not from the date of the decision. The law does not allow you to put off handing it in.
And for new drivers: for the first three years after getting a licence a probationary regime applies. One very serious offence or two serious ones — and the licence is cancelled, and a new one can only be obtained through a special exam.
“Points aren’t given for every speeding offence. Only if it’s more than 20 km/h in a built-up area and more than 30 km/h outside built-up areas.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt06.03.2026
“I’ll write here, since a lot of people were involved in the discussion. Talked to my driving school instructor, a competent source gave info on fines: 1. Points are deducted both for a camera and for being stopped in person 2. Points stay for three years (if you drive three years without fines, they give back what was taken) 3.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkMotorbike chat 🇵🇹26.01.2026
“Paid the fine on the spot and then 4 months later a letter came about a ban and points being deducted.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt29.03.2026
“My wife was doing 94 where it’s 50, fine straight away 120 euros…. and then a paper letter came with minus points and a six-month suspended ban (don’t break the rules)… you have to look at the law there and for speeding there can be a criminal case apparently”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt29.03.2026
Wheel clamp, tow truck and the car pound
Towing a car is called reboque in Portuguese, and cars are towed or clamped not for any offence but for those listed in article 164 of the Code: the car is abandoned, obstructs traffic, is parked in a bus lane or at a bus stop, on a pedestrian crossing, on the pavement, double-parked, in front of an entrance to a yard or garage, in a disabled space, or on the hard shoulder of a motorway.
All of this is paid on top of the fine, and the amounts are set by order 1424/2001 as amended in 2010: a clamp on a car — €60, on a motorbike — €30; towing a car within a town — €75, a motorbike — €30; if it is taken further than ten kilometres, €2 per kilometre is added. Storage at the pound — €15 a day for a car and €7.50 for a motorbike, and a part day counts as a full day. If you arrive before the car has been taken away, you pay only for the clamp. All of this is paid when the car is released.
The procedure with a clamp: a numbered notice with a phone number is left on the windscreen or the door handle — that is the number to call. You must not remove the clamp yourself: there is a separate fine of €300 to €1,500 for that.
If the car has been towed, you must collect it within 45 days of the notice, otherwise it is considered abandoned and passes to the state or the municipality. The storage meter keeps ticking every day, so the sensible order is: collect the car first, argue later.
“If your car’s been clamped Went to the nearest psp station, said I want it unclamped We wait 20 minutes for the colleague in charge We go to look for 87 euros (exactly) in cash They write up papers, take 87 euros in cash and 60 by card I wait another 5 minutes, we get in the police car, go to take the clamp off All very proper and businesslike They asked “how on earth did you park right in front of the gate” – I explained that you can’t see the gate there, and I was in a real hurry (nobody said anything like “idiot”, “eyes in your backside” - both cops just grunted like “bad luck”) All in all about an hour”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkMotorbike chat 🇵🇹01.06.2026
“Find out which pound they took it to and collect it by paying the fine before the meter runs up. You can appeal later.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkleft4portugal01.03.2026
“You can only collect it at IMT, bring the report, a printed receipt for payment of the 500 euro fine and valid insurance, also printed. The registration document takes from 1 week to a month to get from the police to imt.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt09.08.2026
Lisbon and EMEL: what is going on and what you should do
In early September 2026 the law firm Carlos Barroso & Associados brought a case in the administrative court against EMEL, the municipal company that runs parking in Lisbon. There are two complaints: that EMEL writes reports where and when it has no authority (for example, in a charging zone that operates from 9 to 7, but at eight in the morning), and that drivers' defences are not considered on their merits. If the court agrees, people will have grounds to demand their money back. The numbers are large: according to EMEL itself, in 2020–2024 it wrote more than 1.13 million reports, and about €37.7 million was paid on them in 2020–2025.
Nobody knows yet how this will end, and waiting for the outcome without paying is a bad bet. But one thing is useful right now, and EMEL itself confirms it: decisions on traffic offences are made not by EMEL but by Lisbon town hall or ANSR. So the defence goes there, not to EMEL, and the address is written in the notice.
The second thing works in any town: if you paid for parking through the app a minute after getting out of the car, and a report had already been written — write in with the payment receipt. It is not a guarantee, but there are cases of cancellation in conversations.
“What I feel for EMEL is disgust when, on Benfica/Sporting match days, the area around the stadiums is flooded with potentially tens of thousands of euros in fines and nobody does anything.”
Translated from Portuguese; the original is at the linkr/portugal01.09.2026
“Actually, if there’s no strong legal basis for saying EMEL can’t do it, it even does harm, because we’re clogging up the courts with ridiculous cases. If it’s legal and a large slice of Lisbon’s voters think it shouldn’t be, a court case isn’t what’s going to change it.”
Translated from Portuguese; the original is at the linkr/portugal01.09.2026
“There was a case of a fine being cancelled that was issued in the same minute as the payment (I got out of the car and paid through the app on the way). I wrote an email and after a while got a reply that they were cancelling it as an exception, but in future to pay for parking without getting out of the car, and if you go to pay at the machine to leave the car with the hazard lights on.”
Translated from Ukrainian; the original is at the linkukrporto18.04.2026
“after they gave me 3 fines, one where there was no sign, the second for paid parking but not in the right spot (in a corner where people don’t walk), and the third for a pulled charging cable - I lost any desire to pay them) especially if the plates aren’t local - that fine won’t reach anyone”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt29.07.2026
What it costs, according to community conversations
| speeding: 94 km/h where the limit is 50, fine on the spot | €120 | source |
| speeding caught by camera, letter came a year later | €60–120 | source |
| removing a clamp in Lisbon: fine and charge together | €147 | source |
| collecting a car from the pound: the fine itself | €500 | source |
What to bring
- The report number — nine digits in the top right-hand corner of the notice: without it you can't find the case or submit a document
- The whole notice itself: it says who to send the defence to and which details to pay with
- A citizen card with a card reader or the Chave Móvel Digital — without them you can't log in to the offences portal
- A photograph of the slip from under the wiper, both sides, taken the same day
- The parking payment receipt, if there was one: it is the only thing that can counter a parking report
Where people most often trip up
- The slip under the wiper is not a fine and doesn't always have payment details: the real notice will come by letter
- The letter goes to the tax address in the AT database, not to where you live or what is written in the registration document
- The deadline runs from the day of service as defined by law: the fifth day after an ordinary letter is sent, not the day you read it
- All deadlines are in working days: 15 working days is three weeks, not half a month
- Paying the fine closes the case only as far as money goes: bans and points come in a separate letter months later
- A parking defence is not sent to ANSR — the town hall decides it, and the address is in the notice
- There is no “50% discount for early payment” in the law: there is payment at the minimum of the range within 15 working days
- A deposit is paid within 48 hours and only if you intend to appeal; if you don't lodge a defence, it becomes payment automatically
- ANSR doesn't write by email or text message: a letter with a link to pay a fine is a scam
- Betting that “the case will lapse” is a lottery: the limitation period is two years and is interrupted when the decision is served