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Italy's New Motorway Toll Refunds Take Effect

The ART rule shifts service risk to concessionaires by requiring paybacks for defined traffic blocks and work delays as the national claims app remains under development.

Overview

  • The refund regime created by Autorità di regolazione dei trasporti (delibera 211/2025) came into force on Monday, June 1, 2026 and gives motorists a right to money back when minimum traffic fluidity is not guaranteed.
  • For total traffic blocks the law sets progressive payouts of 50% of the toll for 60–119 minutes, 75% for 120–179 minutes, and 100% for stoppages over 180 minutes.
  • Work-related refunds depend on route length with automatic entitlement for trips under 30 km, a 10-minute delay threshold for 30–50 km routes, and a 15-minute threshold for routes over 50 km, with amounts calculated using ART coefficients.
  • Rollout is phased: claims for journeys fully on a single concessionaire are payable now, cross-concession refunds start on December 1, 2026, and the planned single national app to automate claims is not yet ready so major operators have published web forms and hotlines instead.
  • The delibera sets strict rules and limits including a 20-day decision window for operators, reimbursement within five days for electronic payments or ten days by bank transfer for cash, exclusions for emergency or mobile works, a €0.10 floor and €1 minimum payout threshold, and experts warn operators may seek tariff changes to offset new costs.