Austria’s motorway operator ASFINAG confirmed on 5 October 2026 that the long-running dual system of adhesive and digital vignettes will end with the 2026 toll year. From 1 February 2027 every car, van or motorbike using Austria’s motorways must carry only a digital vignette linked to the vehicle’s registration number. Digital vignettes were introduced in 2017, and they already account for 75 % of annual sales. The final switch aligns Austria with neighbours such as Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, all of which have fully electronic tolling. Travellers can buy the e-vignette 24/7 via ASFINAG’s multilingual web shop or at 4,000 retail partners and 100 self-service kiosks nationwide. Purchases made at kiosks or retail points are valid immediately, while consumer-protection rules keep the 18-day cooling-off period for online purchases of annual stickers. For mobility managers the change removes the administrative headache of shipment, physical attachment and end-of-year scraping that came with stickers. Companies running Austrian lease fleets should update policy documents, ensure that number-plate changes are promptly registered in the toll database, and brief foreign assignees—especially those who plan ski trips—on the new grace periods. Border rentals will also benefit: car-hire desks will be able to add the vignette at the point of booking, eliminating fines that often hit tourists who forget to buy a sticker before crossing from Germany into Tyrol. Enforcement will rely on existing gantry cameras that match licence plates against the toll database; fines for non-compliance remain at €120 if paid within two weeks. ASFINAG will run an information campaign in source markets such as Germany, the Netherlands and the UK throughout 2026. The four time-based products (10-day, two-month, annual and half-year for motorcycles) remain unchanged, so budgeting for expatriate travel allowances will not be affected. However, corporate travel desks should note that digital vignettes bought online can no longer be transferred between company vehicles—a small but important shift in fleet-management practice.
Source: Austria Tourism Newsroom
