Romania introduces TollRo electronic system and drops Danube bridge tolls amid carrier friction

Electronic tolling launch and freight restructuring

Romania is activating its new electronic road charging infrastructure, known as TollRo, on 1 October 2026. The platform, funded through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), changes how freight vehicles over 3.5 tonnes pay for national road access. Heavy goods vehicles will no longer use the traditional time-based vignette system, transitioning instead to a distance-based fee ranging from 0.08 to 0.62 lei per kilometre. This rate varies according to vehicle tonnage, environmental pollution standards, and road classification. The change directly affects 48,000 transport companies operating between 185,000 and 187,000 commercial vehicles nationwide, including roughly 19,000 owner-operators.

Technical bottlenecks and enforcement flexibility

Industry representatives reported substantial operational friction leading up to the launch date. Road transport associations UNTRR and COTAR indicated that testing completed on 29 September registered error rates of 80%, with carriers unable to log in or configure vehicle profiles. UNTRR Secretary General Radu Dinescu demonstrated that generating a single route ticket required approximately five minutes, creating severe administrative delays for larger fleets.

We ran a simulation and issuing a single ticket takes around five minutes. For 300 vehicles, that means approximately 1,500 minutes, or 25 hours just to issue a ticket for each truck.

In response to the disruption, National Company for Road Infrastructure Administration (CNAIR) spokesperson Alin Șerbănescu announced that drivers unable to register or buy vignettes due to technical failures will not face fines. CNAIR had requested a launch postponement until 1 April 2027 to complete full scenario testing, comparing Romania's two-week testing window with three-year validation cycles in the Netherlands, but the government maintained the 1 October deadline. The platform opened for account creation and vehicle enrollment at 23:00 on 30 September, with ticket purchasing opening at 00:00 on 1 October.

Payment channels and bank transfer warnings

CNAIR reported that beginning 28 September, users mistakenly transferred funds directly into agency revenue bank accounts using payment references such as "toll fee" or "electronic wallet". The road authority issued an advisory stating direct bank transfers cannot be mapped to vehicle license plates or validity periods, leaving drivers without valid road entitlements. Motorists who wired money mistakenly must submit refund requests by email with payment proofs, IBAN details, and account holder identities. Valid payment channels starting 1 October include the official etoll.ro portal, the TollRo mobile application for iOS and Android, border crossing locations (SDN and ACI), and authorized retail partners.

Danube bridge toll removals and border transit

Alongside the digital platform launch, Romanian authorities eliminated bridge tolls for passenger cars crossing the Danube at three key junctions on 1 October. The measure ends the 3 euro fee on the Romanian bank of the Giurgiu-Ruse crossing toward Bulgaria, as well as crossing fees at Fetești-Cernavodă on the A2 motorway and Giurgeni-Vadu Oii. However, Bulgaria continues to collect a 2 euro bridge fee for passenger cars entering Romania from Ruse, along with charges between 26 and 37 euros for coaches and heavy transport. Bulgarian-Romanian Chamber of Commerce representative Gergana Ilieva noted that easing border transit supports regional tourism flows between the two neighbouring states.

Fast connections are always a prerequisite for tourism. Fast access to a country, even a neighboring one, stimulates people to travel.