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DRIVING

Péage: France to start scrapping motorway tollbooths

Motorists in France will soon be able to drive straight through the péages (tollbooths) and pay later on some motorways, as France begins introducing 'free-flow' highway tolls.

Published: 17 April 2024 12:58 CEST
Updated: 25 April 2024 15:03 CEST
Péage: France to start scrapping motorway tollbooths
An aerial view shows cars arriving at the Saint-Arnoult tollbooth, outside Paris (Photo by Joël SAGET / AFP)

The way motorists in France pay for tolls on motorways is changing. ‘Free-flow’ tollbooths with sensors and cameras are set to be introduced on some autoroutes – allow people to drive straight through and pay later, either online or at the tabac.

In an interview with Ouest France on Sunday, Philippe Coy, the head of the national confederation for tobacconists (tabacs), said that motorways would replace their toll barriers with gates equipped with cameras that vehicles would drive under, confirming a plan that had been first announced in October 2023.

A sensor scan and an automatic photo of the vehicle will be taken, allowing people to keep driving without stopping – similar to the system in place at the Dartford Crossing in the UK. 

The new French technology will first determine whether you have a pre-paid electronic toll badge (known as télépéage) in the car, then it will take note of the category of vehicle (make and model), plus the licence plate number to ensure the right person is billed.

Then, that person will be able to pay their bill either online or in person at certain tabacs afterwards. According to Coy, the option to pay at the tabac will be introduced during the second half of 2024, and it will be available at those that are equipped with the special ‘Nirio’ payment platform.

READ MORE: What is télépéage and how does it work?

Where will the new tolls be introduced?

It will start off on the Paris-Normandy axis, along the A13 and A14 motorways. 

According to reporting by La Dépêche, the first ‘free-flow’ toll has already been installed at the Incarville tollbooth along the A13 in the Eure département.

The project will later be expanded to the A14 motorway by December 2024.

How will the payment work?

The plans to introduce free-flow tollbooths are to be headed up on autoroutes owned by the the North and Eastern motorway company (Société des Autoroutes du Nord et de l’Est de la France, or Sanef), although it is likely that other autoroute operators will follow, if it is a success.

As for the deadline for payment, according to Sanef you will have 72 hours to pay after passing through the toll.

To find out the amount to pay, you will either log onto the online payment platform via Sanef.com, or pay with the Nirio platform in the tabac. You will communicate your licence number to find your bill, and then you can pay either by card (online) or card/cash (in person).

Cheques will not be accepted, according to Actu France. The same process would also apply for hire cars.

You will also be able to pay in advance of your journey, if you prefer.

If you have a toll badge (the Liber-t tag) then as long as it is positioned in the windscreen, it will be read and detected when you pass through the toll. You can continue payments as normally with this option.

There will also be the choice to create a Sanef customer account on their website. You will be able to upload your vehicle’s licence number and a bank card to allow for automatic payment.

What about tourists, visitors and those with foreign-registered cars?

The system seems clear for those vehicles with a French number plate, but what about those whose vehicles are registered elsewhere, such as the tens of thousands and tourists and second-home owners who drive in France each year?

The Local put this question to one of the directors of the free-flow tollbooth project with Sanef, Joselito Bellet.

“The rules will be the same for both foreigners and for French motorists. We are trying our best to make sure the system works in the same way for everyone, even if they have a foreign vehicle,” Bellet said.

“People with vehicles with foreign licence plates will be able to pay using the Sanef website, in the same way as those with French vehicles.

“Both will enter their licence plate number and pay the fee, and both have 72 hours to pay. People driving foreign vehicles will also be able to create an account on the Sanef website too, so they can pay in advance if they like.

“We will soon begin working with the tourism offices, as well as the communication teams at the Eurotunnel and at the Port of Calais to help offer more information in English to foreign motorists.

“The Sanef payment website will also be available in English. We will set up a call centre with an English-language option, so people will be able to direct their questions there.”

For rental cars, Bellet explained that the process will be the same: they can either pay using their own personal toll badge (you can use this in different cars, as long as they are the same ‘class’), by creating an account ahead of time, or afterwards using the website or one of the participating tabacs.

He added that will put out flyers and reminders (in English) so that people do not forget to write down their rental vehicle’s licence plate number.

What if you forget to pay?

For those who forget to pay within the 72 hours, there will be a late fee applied.

Bellet explained that if you pay within two weeks of receiving the letter informing you that you forgot to pay, then the fee will only be €10. However, after two weeks, that penalty can go all the way up to €90.

For foreigners covered by the EU car registration system EUCARIS, you will receive a letter informing you that you forgot to pay and explaining (in both French and English) how you can do so and the fee structure if you do not do it right away.

For motorists with vehicles from non-EU countries, including the UK, he said “Sanef will pass through debt collection agencies in those countries and we will follow their local rules for this.”

Why offer payment at tabacs?

As smoking rates drop, tabacs are offering more services including administrative services such as paying bills or taxes.

Coy added that his “goal is to turn tabacs into everyday drugstores. That is to say, places where you can always find the product you want at the last minute: a gift, local products, batteries, headphones, or pens and paper.”

Tabacs are offering more services, including the ability to pay bills and fines, as well as purchasing ammunition (at some stores for eligible people).

READ MORE: Why the tabac is essential to life in France – even if you don’t smoke

In terms of hours, tabacs are usually open six days a week.

Member comments

  1. The tag is by far the simplest and cheapest way to pay. Drive through the toll gate, or under the new cover and your distance, vehicle and toll are logged.
    Nothing to do.
    payment is collected the following month.

  2. Looking for suggestions for those of us who rent cars occasionally. From our experience, by the time the rental company emails us notifications of charges, we are already late. I found payment online to be very convoluted. Can we get a tag each time we rent a car? Good for a week ? Or can we use the tag when driving DIFFERENT rental cars?

  3. Replying to Kathy – we have a tag which we have used in our own cars and rental cars and it’s not car specific. You just need to place it or hold it up where it can be detected as you go through the toll.

  4. We drive in France once or twice a year in a UK-registered car. What is the most practical course of action for holidaymakers like us? Will there still be lanes where payment can be made by credit card?

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LIVING IN FRANCE

5 things Brits in France need to know about swapping driving licences

Now that the dust has settled from the somewhat chaotic post-Brexit period, the system for swapping a UK driving licence for a French one seems to be running fairly smoothly. There are, however, some things that UK licence holders need to know.

Published: 3 May 2024 17:20 CEST
5 things Brits in France need to know about swapping driving licences

This article is aimed at holders of a UK or Northern Ireland driving licence who are living in France – tourists, visitors and second-home owners can continue to drive in France on a UK licence and do not need an international driving permit.

British students who are studying in France on a student visa can continue to drive on their UK licence during their studies – if however they settle in France afterwards, they need to follow the below process for swapping their licence. 

1 You’re special

Well, maybe special is over-stating it, but the system for holders of UK and NI licence holders is different to that of other non-EU nationals, and also different to the system for EU licence holders.

The reason for this is that a pragmatic post-Brexit agreement was (finally) reached between France and the UK, in order to avoid the chaos that was triggered when thousands of Brits in France all tried to swap their driving licences at once.

Unlike almost all other post-Brexit agreements, this one applies both to people who moved to France before the end of Brexit transition period in 2021 and those who have moved here since. 

The below terms apply to everyone who has a UK or NI licence, regardless of their nationality or when they moved to France. 

2 But you still have to swap

It was technically always the case that Brits who were living in France should have swapped their licence for a French one, just as other EU licence holders do now, but in reality many people lived here for years or decades without ever exchanging their licence and there was little or no enforcement of the rule.

That has now changed and you must swap according to the following timetable;

If your UK licence was issued after January 1st, 2021 – you must swap within one year of moving to France.

If your UK licence was issued before January 1st 2021 – you only swap when you meet one of the following conditions;

  • The licence itself or the photocard is within six months of its expiry date. For more people the photocard expiry will come around first, but UK licences also require renewal when the holder reaches the age of 70
  • Your licence has been lost or stolen
  • You have been ordered to exchange your licence by a gendarme after committing a driving offence

For people who are exchanging because the licence is about to expire, it is important that you don’t start the process until your licence is within six months of the expiry date – early applications will simply be rejected.

3 It might not be as much of a nightmare as you think 

Unlike the old days when licence swaps were done by préfectures, the whole process has now moved online and is run through a single, central system.

The online portal for requesting a swap is known as ANTS and you can find it HERE.

If you haven’t used it before you will need to create an online account, or if you already have online accounts for French government services such as Ameli or tax declarations you can login by clicking on the France Connect button.

Once logged in, select Je demande l’échange ou l’enregistrement de mon permis de conduire étranger (I request the exchange or registration of a foreign driving licence) and fill in the details requested on the form such as name, address etc.

You might be pleasantly surprised by the fact the form itself is relatively straightforward (as French admin forms go), asking basic questions such as your personal details and the details of your driving licence.

You will have to upload supporting documents, but these are likely to be things that you already have to hand including

  • Proof of ID (passport or carte de séjour)
  • Proof of address (a recent utility bill or attestation from your utility provider)
  • If your driver’s licence is in a different name to your passport, you will need to supply your full birth certificate

You will also need to supply a photo – you can either use the internet-enabled Photomaton booths – find your nearest here – to create a digital photo with the required security code, or you can use the normal photo booths to print out a physical photo and send it by post after you have made your application. 

Once completed, you can use the ANTS site to track the progress of your application and upload any other documents that are requested.

4 But don’t leave it too late 

If you’re applying because your licence is about to expire then you cannot apply until you are within six months of the expiry date.

But it’s a good idea not to leave it until the last minute as the whole process does take time – things have improved massively since the dark days of 2020 and 2021 when people were waiting for years and their licences expired while they waited.

But it still takes time – the current average for a straightforward application with no extra documents required seems to be between four and five months, although processing times can vary, especially over holiday periods.

It’s therefore a good idea to make the application fairly soon after you enter that magic six-month window.

Once you make the application you should get an automated response acknowledging receipt – this is usually sent by SMS and/or email, it’s a good idea to check your spam folder if you don’t get the email.

Don’t panic if you don’t then hear anything for the next few weeks or even months, this appears to be normal. If your application is complete and there are no outstanding queries or other documents required, the next step will be a request to send in your old UK licence.

You send this by post (recorded delivery with a signature is strongly recommended) and at the same time you can download an Attestation de Depot de Permis de Conduire (certificate of deposit of driving licence) – you can use this to prove your continued entitled to drive in the period between sending in your old licence and receiving your new one.

Your French licence is then sent by registered post, and the window between posting the old licence and receiving the new one is usually not more than a month, you 

5 Help is out there 

If your application runs into problems or you have an untypical situation or find the ANTS website hard to use, don’t panic – help is available.

The Facebook group Driving in France – French Licence Applications is a good place to start with comprehensive guides and knowledgeable admins who are quick to respond to questions.

You can also chat to others in your situation and get updates on how long processing times seem to be.

If you have problems using the online system, your local France Services office may be able to help.

You can also head to The Local’s reader questions section, or email us at news@thelocal.fr if you have questions.

Digital licences

You might have heard about France’s new digital driving licence – unfortunately this is only available to people who have French citizenship (including dual nationals).

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