Tourists and others driving their own foreign-registered vehicles in Norway evaded as much as NOK 186 million worth of road tolls just during the calendar year of 2023, and have continued to do so. Now it will be easier for Norwegian authorities to track them down.
Norwegian transport authorities will soon be more easily able to collect road tolls from owners of foreign-registered vehicles. PHOTO: Fjellinjen
From August 1, state highway authority Statens Vegvesen will be able to use a new EU directive that makes it easier for countries to exchange vehicle registration information across borders. It will then be able to get addresses for owners of the foreign vehicles picked up by cameras along Norwegian roads, and pass them on to Norway’s largest road toll collection company, Fjellinjen.
“These are relatively large sums of money we haven’t been able to collect because we haven’t had access to registered owners’ information,” Tom Kalsås of the Norwegian transport ministry told state broadcaster NRK this week.
Norway has long had agreements with neighbouring Sweden and Denmark to ensure tolls are paid, but not with other countries. NRK has earlier reported that owners of cars from Romania alone currently owe around NOK 12 million in unpaid tolls on Norwegian roads.
“It’s important for the financing of our roads and highways, and for public confidence in the toll system, that we also be able to collect tolls from foreign-registered vehicles,” Kalsås said. Money collected through road tolls also helps pay for bicycle lanes and other transport improvements.
State traffic authorities plan to hook up to their equivalents in EU countries in August, and launch new collection efforts during the autumn.
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund