Romania's Truck Toll Transformation: What Lies Ahead

Market Monday - Week 40 - Recent vignette price hikes and a per-kilometer future for the Romanian heavy goods transport market

In September 2025, the Romanian government implemented a substantial increase in the cost of its time-based road vignette, the “Rovinieta”, justified by the need to fund the maintenance of a national road network. Under the new tariff schedule, the annual Rovinieta for a heavy goods vehicle with four or more axles (Category F) has risen to €1,425 (from €1210). Similarly, a truck between 7.5 and 12 tonnes (Category D) now faces an annual cost of €670 (from €560). To ensure compliance, this price increase has been coupled with a sharp rise in penalties. Fines for lacking a valid Rovinieta are now calculated at double the annual tariff for the minimum penalty and four times the annual tariff for the maximum potential fine of up to 5,600 EUR.

But what is really interesting is the looming implementation of the new per-km tolling system. Mandated by Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the country is preparing to launch a modern electronic tolling system TollRo, for all goods vehicles with a Maximum Technically Permissible Mass over 3.5 tonnes, following European directives. The push from the EU to implement CO2-based tolling has been a significant factor in this transition, aligning Romania with the common “polluter pays” principle.

Set to replace the Rovinieta for HGVs, TollRo abandons the time-based model in favor of a distance-based one applicable to all highways, express roads, European national roads, as well as other primary and secondary national roads outside of municipal areas. The tariff will be determined by the vehicle’s weight category and Euro emission class.

In a draft project released by the Ministry of Transport, as reported in Romanian media, proposed per-kilometer tariffs were as follows:

This consolidated tariff includes charges for both infrastructure use and external costs related to air and noise pollution, creating a faint incentive for fleet modernization.

Converted to Euro, this would be €0,03 per km for the most popular EURO VI 12t+ truck type, a rather modest figure in the current European trucking environment. It is worth noting that the initially reported toll proposal was significantly higher and was reduced after pressure from local transport industry groups.

Quick math shows that for an average EURO VI heavy truck active on the Romanian domestic market driving ca. 100’000 km per year on tolled roads, the cost increase vs €1425 yearly vignette will be ca. €1575 per year. For trucks with Romanian registration but mostly active on international lanes with less than 50’000 km yearly mileage on local roads, there might even be some savings with TollRo.

The transition to this technology-reliant system is facing some hurdles. Originally slated for a January 1, 2026 launch, the Romanian government has officially postponed the implementation of TollRo by at least six months, setting a new start date of July 1, 2026. The delay was attributed to the complexities and extended duration of the public procurement process for the central IT system. The contract for this core system, which will manage everything from vehicle tracking and data processing to billing and enforcement, was reportedly awarded in March 2025.

Alongside toll adjustment, Romania also recently made important fiscal changes. On August 1, 2025, the government enacted a major VAT overhaul, the standard VAT rate increased from 19% to 21%, while the previous 5% and 9% reduced rates were consolidated into a single new reduced rate of 11%, applicable to an exclusive list of essential goods and services.

For haulage operators running routes through Romania, TollRo will significantly alter the approach to road usage cost calculations, no longer based on time-limited vignettes. Initially proposed, relatively low per-kilometer tolls can be only a strategic first step to “normalize” per-kilometer tolling. This approach would allow carriers to adapt to the new system’s mechanics and operational requirements with minimal financial disruption. However, this introductory pricing may not last long. Later in the future, the Romanian government will likely consider potentially bringing tariffs closer to the significantly higher levels seen in neighboring Bulgaria and Hungary.

For now, operators must use the current interim period to analyze their fleet composition, model future costs based on the proposed tariffs, and prepare for a new era of road tolling in Romania.

Oleksandr Kulish
Senior Consultant