When we drove through Austria four months previously we paid for road tolls by purchasing a GOBox and preloaded our account with €100. The miles we travelled were then automatically recorded and charged against our account. What we did not know was, that within 28 days of purchasing the GOBox, we had to submit to the authorities our vehicle’s European Emissions Control Certificate.
On our return to Austria we installed our GOBox but every time we passed a receptor our box gave four beeps, indicating that our credit had expired. We stopped and put another €100 on our account.
A few miles down the road we were pulled over by the police and were fined €240 for not presenting our emissions certificate to the authorities. Tony offered to show the policeman the document but we were fined because we had not done so in March when we first registered. It was a slick operation and the police took payment by credit card.
We felt we had been victims of a daylight robbery as there had been no clear indication when we bought the box that we had to submit the certificate and our vehicle was registered as fully compliant with current regulations. So two (very nice) days spent in Austria cost us almost £400.
