Motorway vignette: rental cars, trailers, scams and fines
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The price (CHF 40), the sticker vs e-vignette choice, the validity period and moving an e-vignette to new Swiss plates are on Car registration in Vaud (SAN). This page covers the extra situations newcomers run into, from the federal customs office FOCBS (OFDF).
Key facts
- Every vehicle and trailer up to 3.5 t using motorways or semi-motorways needs its own vignette. Trailers too (FOCBS).
- No short-stay vignette: even for one trip, you buy the annual one (FOCBS).
- Fine: CHF 200 for driving without a valid vignette. A car and caravan both without one are fined twice (FOCBS Directive 15-01). The CHF 200 fine is set in the federal vignette law (LVA art. 14).
- Buy only at e-vignette.ch or via.admin.ch. FOCBS warns of fake sites and fake emails asking for card details.
1. Which vehicles need one
- Cars, motorbikes, motorhomes and vintage cars up to 3.5 t total weight: yes. Heavier motorhomes pay the heavy vehicle charge instead (FOCBS FAQ).
- Trailers (for example a caravan or bike trailer behind a car): yes, a separate vignette. Trailers pulled by a motorbike are exempt (FOCBS FAQ).
- E-vignette for motor vehicles, trailers and motorbikes: the Via portal sells all three; you pick the vehicle category, country of registration and plate number.
2. Sticker or e-vignette: what is tied to what
- The sticker is tied to the vehicle. Peeling it off makes it invalid, and you cannot move it to another car (FOCBS FAQ). On a car it goes on the inside of the windscreen; on motorbikes and trailers, on a fixed part that cannot be removed easily. Tape or film is forbidden.
- The e-vignette is tied to the plate number. If you drive two vehicles with one interchangeable plate (plaques interchangeables), one e-vignette is enough; with stickers, each vehicle needs one.
- Typo in the plate: for Swiss plates you can correct it once in the shop ticket; for foreign plates, once and within 24 hours of buying. Hyphens and spaces do not matter.
- No refund if you take the car off the road and hand in the plates.
3. Rental, shared and foreign cars
- Rental or shared car: before buying, use Check validity in the Via portal to see whether the plate already has an e-vignette. This only works if the buyer chose "publicly viewable" (FOCBS). Check your rental contract too. To verify: whether rental companies must include a vignette (FOCBS publishes no rule on this).
- When you buy for a car you share, tick publicly viewable so others can check.
- Driving in on foreign plates: you need a vignette from the border. There is no free stretch to the first exit, except at three German/French border crossings (Basel/St-Louis, Rheinfelden, Kreuzlingen), not near Vaud (FOCBS FAQ).
- You do not need to carry a receipt for the e-vignette, but giving your email when you buy gets you proof of payment.
4. Scam sites and phishing
- FOCBS charges exactly CHF 40, asks for no deposit, and never asks you to confirm payment details by email.
- Third-party sellers may legally add fees, but must clearly say they are independent and itemise costs. Lookalike sites that hide this, and emails asking you to re-enter card details, are fraud. See Phishing, SMS and parcel scams.
5. Fines
- Driving on a motorway without a valid vignette, or using it the wrong way (not stuck on, stuck with tape, peeled off): CHF 200 fine, and you must buy a vignette on the spot (FOCBS Directive 15-01).
- A car with caravan where neither has a valid vignette: the fine is charged twice.
- Fake or reused vignettes are a criminal offence, with a criminal record entry.
- Other traffic fines: Fines and tickets in Vaud.