Electronic Vignette and Eco Tax: Changes in Road Tolling

The Council of Ministers approved significant changes to the Ordinance on the conditions, procedure and rules for the construction and operation of a mixed system for taxing road vehicles.

These changes, synchronizing Bulgarian legislation with Directive (EU) 2022/362 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 February 2022, are the result of the transposition of European directives regulating the taxation of vehicles for the use of road infrastructure.

The amendments to the Road Traffic Act are the basis for these updates.

Key changes

• Introduction of an electronic vignette with 24-hour validity for light vehicles up to 3.5 tons.
• Stricter penalties for lack of a valid vignette – a minimum fee equivalent to the price of a one-day vignette.
• For heavy goods vehicles and buses over 3.5 tons, an environmental component is introduced into the fee, encouraging the use of more environmentally friendly vehicles.
• The fee will cover external CO2 emission costs, determined according to the technical characteristics of the road, the distance traveled, the vehicle category, the number of axles, the permissible maximum mass, the EURO environmental category and the specific CO2 emissions.
• The system will categorize road vehicles over 3.5 tons into five classes of carbon dioxide emissions.
• Revenue from the environmental component will be used for investments in low-carbon transport, improvement of road infrastructure and financing of climate and environmental measures.
• A new section in the Ordinance regulating the access of the NRA and the "Customs Agency" to the data from the Electronic Toll Collection System.

This approach is based on the "polluter pays" principle, with higher fees for more polluting vehicles. The classification will be reviewed every six years after the first registration of the vehicle.

The changes are an important step towards increasing the transparency and efficiency of the system.