Finding a ticket in your mailbox, or on the windshield of your car, in addition to not sitting well, generates a series of doubts It should be clarified because, unless you appeal it, the corresponding administration will start an «unstoppable» process until the collection is made.
First of all you should look at who fines you. As explained by the General Directorate of Traffic (@DGTes), in Spain the competent authorities to sanction in traffic matters are: the DGT itself, through the action of the Civil Guard (@Civil Guard), the town halls, only on the urban roads of your municipality through the Local Police and certain autonomous communities with competence in this matter (Catalonia, the Basque Country and Navarra).
When and how to pay
If you receive a traffic fine, or directly a civil guard gives it to you, the voluntary payment period is 20 calendar days from the day of notification. If you pay it within this period, you will have a reduction of the amount of one fifty%. There are three ways to do it:
Via Internet. It is one of the simplest ways, because at the DGT’s electronic headquarters, simply by entering the file number and the date of the notification, you will be able to make the payment. In the fines of this type, in addition, a QR code where you have that necessary data.
For telephone, by calling 060.
So face-to-face with three possible ways:
Making the deposit in branches or ATMs of Caixabank.
Making the payment at a Post Office. But be careful, this formula carries an additional cost of 2.25 euros plus 1.50% of the amount of the fine.
Going to any Headquarters or Traffic office in which you can only pay by card.
If you are directly penalized by a civil guard on the road, you can pay the fine on the spot, with the corresponding reduction for prompt payment, but as in the previous case, only with a card.
What if the local police fine me?
The traffic tickets that are of municipal competence, such as those related to double-row stops or parking, also have a 50% reduction if they are paid within the voluntary period of 20 days after their imposition. This is the case in most municipalities, including Madrid (@MADRID), and is applicable to almost all infractions except those excepted by the Traffic and Road Safety Law itself.
In this case, the possible payment methods are similar to the above and they work the same in most municipalities. Generally, you can pay the fine online, by accessing the electronic headquarters of your city council, calling the telephone numbers of citizen attention (010 in the case of Madrid), in person, at the addresses indicated by each consistory, and, in some cases, also by mail.
You should know that traffic fines, as a general rule, they are not divided, that is, you will have to pay them in full at once, at least with regard to the economic sanctions of the DGT. It is also important to know that if you detect any anomaly in that payment, you can request your return.
What happens if I do not agree with the sanction?
If you receive a fine and you do not agree because you consider it unfair, you think it has some defect in form or you think it has prescribed, you have the option to appeal it. Doing so implies present the allegations or the pertinent appeal in writing before the end of the voluntary pay period. Keep in mind that in this case, if you finally have to pay it, you would lose the 50% bonus.
Depending on the origin of the fine, you will have to present your writing in the corresponding agency. If you want to manage this issue personally in the corresponding traffic department, remember that you will have to ask appointmentYou can also do it through the Internet or by calling 060. In the case of municipalities, the appointment may or may not be necessary.
As the last important procedure related to the notification of fines, it may happen that what you receive at your home is not exactly a sanction, but a requirement so that identify the driver of a vehicle with which an offense has been committed, yours to be sure. Failure to do so, being possible, may lead to an additional fine in addition to the one corresponding to the sanctioned offense.
Identification can be done online, as long as you have a digital certificate or Cl @ ve PIN. You can also do it by sending the form that will have arrived together with the notification by mail to the Traffic Headquarters, or by going personally to their offices.
