Fines in Vaud: transport surcharges, parking and traffic fines, penalty orders

Last checked: 9 October 2026. Unofficial student guide, not EPFL or government advice: confirm on the linked official pages before you act. Unfamiliar abbreviation? See the Glossary.

The fines newcomers most often meet (no valid ticket on a bus or train, parking, cycling and driving offences), what they cost according to the official tariffs, how to pay, how to contest, and what happens if you ignore them. Orientation only, not legal advice. The amount and deadline printed on your document are what count.

Key facts

• No valid ticket on tl, Mobilis or SBB: you pay a surcharge of CHF 90 the first time, CHF 130 the second time and CHF 160 from the third time (national tariff rules used by SBB and the Vaud fare network), plus the fare or a flat travel price. The ticket must be bought or the check-in completed before the vehicle leaves; there is no grace period.
• Forgot your personal travelcard or SwissPass, or could not show a personal e-ticket bought before departure (for example flat phone battery)? Show it within 10 days and pay CHF 5; after 10 days it costs CHF 30 (tariff T600). If you had no ticket bought before departure, the full surcharge applies instead.
• Parking, cycling and driving fines for minor offences are fixed fines (amendes d'ordre) set in a federal list: for example CHF 40 for overstaying a parking limit by up to 2 hours, CHF 40 for cycling at night without lights on a lit road. Pay immediately or within 30 days. The maximum fixed fine is CHF 300.
• Contesting a fixed fine means not paying it and letting it go to the ordinary procedure (or refusing the fixed-fine procedure on the spot). You will then receive a penalty order (ordonnance pénale).
• Penalty order: you can object in writing within 10 days. Without a valid objection it becomes a final judgment.
• Unpaid fines do not go away: reminders, debt enforcement (poursuite) and, for criminal fines, conversion into days of detention.

On buses, metros and trains: travelling without a valid ticket

The rule

• You need a valid ticket before the vehicle leaves. For digital tickets and check-in apps, the purchase or check-in must be completed before actual departure. SBB explains there is no one- or two-minute tolerance.
• Digital tickets are personal, so inspectors may ask for ID as well.
• On tl and other Mobilis lines, the form you get at a check (constat, "Voyage sans titre de transport valable") counts as a ticket in all Mobilis zones for one hour from the time it is issued.

What it costs (national tariff T600, edition 1 June 2026)

The Vaud fare network's tariff (Mobilis T651.22) applies the national rules of Alliance SwissPass (tariff T600, chapter 13.7) to surcharges. SBB's page on travel without a valid ticket states the same surcharges; for the processing fees below, the column "Source" shows which amounts SBB also states.

On top of the surcharge:

• On services where you check yourself in (no ticket sales on board), a flat travel price of CHF 10 (no valid ticket) or CHF 5 (partly valid). It counts as a valid ticket to your destination and, inside a fare network, in all zones for one hour.
• On services with staff on board, the regular fare for the trip.

Other amounts:

The CHF 5 rule for an e-ticket only works if the ticket was bought (or the check-in completed) before the vehicle left, and was not refunded or cancelled (T600 13.7.7.3). A ticket bought after departure is not a forgotten ticket: you pay the full surcharge for travelling without a valid ticket.

A record is kept. Cases are entered in a national database to detect repeat offenders across all transport companies; SBB says the data is kept for two years and then deleted, and that it is not a criminal or debt-enforcement register. Fare evasion can also lead to a criminal complaint under the federal Passenger Transport Act, with extra costs.

Paying or disputing

• tl (and LEB) constats: pay online on tl's constat page with the constat number and your date of birth, by card, PayPal or TWINT, at no extra cost. tl says the payment page is usually available about 5 hours after the check and is for customers aged 16 or over. tl's bureau des constats: 021 621 01 11.
• SBB invoices: pay the invoice within 30 days and a reminder within 10 days. Payment online, by QR-bill (see Swiss QR-bill and eBill) or as printed on the invoice.
• Can't pay at once (SBB): a one-off extension of up to 3 months from the travel date, or instalments: minimum CHF 40 per month, a one-time CHF 40 fee, at most 24 instalments.
• You think it is wrong: SBB asks you to use its RogF contact form, category "other reason", and only the contact details printed on your invoice. For tl, contact the bureau des constats.
• Expired travelcard: if your annual pass (or Half Fare) expired 10 days or less before the check, you can buy a new annual pass for the same or a larger area within 10 days of the check, starting the day after the old one ended. If a monthly pass expired 5 days or less before the check, the same applies, but you must buy an annual pass. You then pay only the CHF 5 handling fee instead of the surcharge. Weekly or monthly passes bought after the check never qualify (T600, 13.7.9).

Half Fare, SwissPass and student passes: see Half Fare and SwissPass for students. Tickets and zones in the Lausanne area: see Getting around.

Sources: SBB, Voyage sans titre de transport valable (costs, deadlines, instalments) · Alliance SwissPass, tariff T600, edition 1 June 2026 (PDF) · Mobilis, tariff T651.22 valid from 15 Dec 2024 (PDF), ch. 6 (if the PDF is slow, open it from Mobilis, Règlement tarifaire T651.22) · tl, pay a constat · tl, conditions for paying constats online

tl's conditions for paying constats online state that the national tariff T600 and the Mobilis tariff T651.22 apply to tl and LEB constats. The Mobilis tariff PDF Mobilis publishes is the edition valid from 15 December 2024. tl's FAQ appears to give these amounts (To verify: check the amount printed on your constat) for a first constat without a valid ticket: CHF 100 if you pay on the spot, CHF 125 if you are invoiced by post. For a repeat case, tl sends an extra amount by post, based on how many times it has happened. Paying the inspector does not cancel that repeat amount. Forgot a valid pass on tl: show it at a tl or LEB point of sale within 10 days for CHF 5 (you can also pay the CHF 5 to the inspector); after 10 days, CHF 30. tl adds CHF 25 if it had to search for or identify you. Sources: tl, Quel est le montant du constat · tl, FAQ Constats d'infraction.

Parking, cycling and driving: fixed fines (amendes d'ordre)

How the system works

The federal Fixed Fines Act (LAO) and its ordinance (OAO) set a national list of minor offences with a fixed price. The police (cantonal, municipal or intercommunal) or a commune's parking staff hand you, or leave on your vehicle, a fixed-fine form.

• Maximum fixed fine: CHF 300. Your record and personal situation are not taken into account.
• Pay immediately (you get a receipt without your name) or within 30 days (thinking time). The form comes with a payment slip.
• No fees are charged in the fixed-fine procedure.
• Several offences at once are added up; if the total would exceed CHF 600, everything goes to the ordinary procedure.
• Parked car, driver not there: the fine is addressed to the registered keeper, who has 30 days to pay or to give the name and address of the driver.
• No Swiss domicile (for example a car on foreign plates): if you do not pay on the spot, you must leave a deposit for the amount.
• Not eligible for a fixed fine: anyone under 15, cases where someone was endangered or injured or damage was caused, and drug offences by under-18s.

Examples from the federal list (OAO, Annex 1, version of 1 August 2026)

Parking (cars and motorbikes)

Driving

Speeding above these bands is not on the fixed-fine list, so it goes through the ordinary procedure (penalty order). Licence rules for newcomers: Driving licence.

Cycling (section 6 of the list: cyclists and moped riders)

Where to park your bike on campus and what to do if it is stolen: Bike parking and theft.

Private car parks (mise à ban)

A sign saying that the justice of the peace prohibits parking on a property (mise à ban) is a court ban. Under the Civil Procedure Code, breaching it is punished, on complaint, by a fine of up to CHF 2,000. This is not a fixed fine: the case goes through a penalty order.

Sources: Fedlex, Fixed Fines Act (LAO, RS 314.1), art. 1 to 13 · Fedlex, Fixed Fines Ordinance (OAO, RS 314.11), Annex 1 · Fedlex, Civil Procedure Code, art. 258 · État de Vaud, aide-mémoire for communes: Contraventions communales

Road rules behind these fines: see Bike, e-bike and e-scooter road rules; alcohol limits for drivers and riders: see Alcohol, cannabis and tobacco rules in Vaud.

Motorway vignette fines: see Motorway vignette: rental cars, trailers, scams and fines.

Penalty orders (ordonnance pénale) and how to object

You receive a penalty order when a fine is not handled as a fixed fine: you did not pay a fixed fine within 30 days, you refused the fixed-fine procedure, the offence is not on the federal list, or it is a more serious offence. In Vaud it can come from the commune (municipal authority), the prefecture or the Public Prosecutor (Ministère public).

Deadline to object: 10 days, in writing.

• Write to the authority that issued the order (named on it) within 10 days of notification. You do not have to give reasons.
• If it was sent by registered mail and you do not collect it, it is treated as delivered at the end of the 7-day post-office holding period (if you had to expect it, for example because a procedure was already under way), and the 10 days run from there (CPP art. 85).
• If you do not object validly, the order becomes equivalent to a final judgment.
• After an objection, the authority may hear you, change the fine, drop the case, or maintain the order (possibly adding procedure costs) and send the file on to the Public Prosecutor or the court.
• When a commune's parking staff report an offence that is on the national list, Vaud's guidance to communes says the penalty-order amount must be the same as the fixed fine, with no fees added.

Free and low-cost legal advice before you object: see the OAV and CSP Vaud entries on Free legal advice for students (CSP Vaud says it does not advise on road-traffic matters: CSP Vaud, Questions juridiques).

Sources: Fedlex, Criminal Procedure Code (CPP), art. 352 to 354 · CPP art. 85 (notification) · Ministère public vaudois, Directive 2.11 on objections (PDF) · État de Vaud, Contraventions communales

What happens if you don't pay

Under the Swiss Criminal Code, a criminal fine is capped at CHF 10,000 unless the law says otherwise, and the decision sets a substitute custodial sentence of 1 day to 3 months for culpable non-payment; later payment reduces it proportionally.

Sources: État de Vaud, Conversion d'une amende en jours de détention · État de Vaud, Contraventions communales · Fedlex, Swiss Criminal Code, art. 106 · Fedlex, LAO art. 6 and 12 · SBB, costs and debt enforcement

Struggling to pay, or facing debt enforcement? Free budget and debt counselling: see Budget and debt help in Vaud.

Checklist

• Ticket bought or check-in completed before the bus, metro or train leaves.
• Personal pass or SwissPass forgotten? Show it within 10 days (CHF 5 instead of CHF 30).
• Fixed fine on the windscreen or handed to you? Pay within 30 days, or decide not to pay if you want to contest it.
• Penalty order received? Note the delivery date; object in writing within 10 days if you disagree.
• Can't pay a transport invoice in one go? Ask SBB for an extension or instalments before the deadline.
• Pay with the QR-bill: Swiss QR-bill and eBill.