Rental company fee for an Italian traffic fine

A charge of €30 to €60 for "handling" a fine is the rental company's own fee, not the fine. Italy's Competition Authority has found these clauses unfair for several major companies.

Last reviewed: 5 November 2026 · Written by MixDigital from the sources listed below. Not legal advice.

What the fee is

It is the rental company's charge for telling the police or the city who rented the car. Since 2021 the renter answers for the fine, so the company's only task is to pass on the customer's details. The official ticket reaches you separately, with its own deadlines.

What the Competition Authority decided

In 2024 the Italian Competition Authority found unfair the clauses of Avis Budget Italia, Hertz Italiana, Centauro, Green Motion, Noleggiare and Drivalia that charge a fee for handling a traffic fine or an unpaid parking or toll charge, with penalties above €18 million. The reason given: the fee is not justified by the work, which is only the transfer of the customer's identification data. Further decisions followed in 2025 for Sicily by Car and Locauto.

What that means for your fee

An unfair clause is void for the consumer under art. 36 of the Italian Consumer Code. The decisions do not refund anyone by themselves: you ask the company in writing and, if it refuses, you ask your card issuer. The companies have since changed their contracts, so the answer depends on the version you signed and on the company.

The fee and the fine are two things

Paying or disputing the fee does not settle the fine. The official ticket comes from the city or the police, in your name, and its deadlines start when you receive it.

Your card

For a card issued in the EU or EEA, EU payment rules let you ask your bank for a refund within 8 weeks of a debit whose exact amount you had not approved in advance. Banks often refuse when the contract announced such charges, so the outcome is uncertain. A refund by the bank does not end the matter with the company.

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Frequent questions

The company also charged the fine itself to my card. Can it?

Since 2021 the fine is addressed to the renter, not to the rental company. Ask the company for a copy of the ticket, for proof that it paid it and for the clause that allows it to pay in your place.

I was charged three fees for three tickets from one trip.

Each fee covers the same small task of passing on your details. You can ask the company to explain why it was billed three times. No rule limits the number of fees, so this is an argument, not a right.

My rental company is not among those named.

Then there is no decision on its clause, and the argument is by analogy: a fixed fee out of proportion to the work can be an unfair clause under the Italian Consumer Code.