Five most common mistakes when buying a motorway vignette
Particularly common are errors in the data entered. Checking the payment confirmation for an electronic motorway vignette should therefore be essential for motorists. “We encounter cases where a customer is convinced they bought a motorway vignette and cannot understand why they received a fine for driving on a motorway without one. A detailed review then shows that, for example, an error was made when entering the vehicle registration number,” said Peter Braška, Director of Tolling and IT at NDS. He added that, besides paying full attention when entering data, he recommends thoroughly checking the payment receipt. If an error is found in time, it can be corrected.
A particular situation arises when the motorist does not receive the payment confirmation at all. This may have several causes, from an incorrectly entered email address to a payment that has not gone through. NDS recommends always checking that the buyer has actually received the confirmation. Only then can they be certain that the motorway vignette has truly been purchased. If a motorist finds that the payment has not gone through, NDS recommends repeating the payment. The funds will be returned to the account automatically. Should that not happen, they can be claimed back through the form at www.eznamka.sk.
It also happens that a family wants to surprise one of its members with an unusual gift – a motorway vignette. They buy it without the recipient’s knowledge and overlook the automatic warning when entering the details that a valid motorway vignette is already registered for that vehicle. In that case, a refund can of course be requested through the form on www.eznamka.sk. However, if customers focus fully on the entire purchasing process, they can avoid such complications.
Motorists often pay the price for using unofficial sellers. NDS regularly stresses that the only official online shop is www.eznamka.sk. There, motorists can buy a motorway vignette at guaranteed, statutory prices. The market also includes intermediary websites that add various fees to the vignette price. NDS recently calculated that purchases made through unofficial websites cost motorists more than €4 million extra in 2025 – with no added value whatsoever. Not to mention fraudulent portals that do not complete the vignette purchase at all while motorists hand over personal data to an anonymous entity.
Even an experienced driver can take a wrong turn or simply enter a tolled motorway section unintentionally, only realizing it when seeing road signs indicating that the section is tolled. In such a situation, it is important to remain calm. Sudden changes of direction or risky manoeuvres in an attempt to leave the motorway can significantly increase the risk of an accident. However, the motorway vignette must be purchased without unnecessary delay, either at the nearest filling station or online on the same calendar day. Buying it afterwards is truly an exceptional situation: NDS does not recommend relying solely on buying a vignette somewhere along the way. Checks take place across the entire motorway network and a driver may be checked virtually anywhere during the journey. The rule is simple: it is best to set out on the motorway only with a valid motorway vignette.
NDS has also summarised the motorists’ most common questions about purchasing electronic motorway vignettes on its website here: https://eznamka.sk/sk/dialnicne-znamky/faq