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Do Italian municipalities have email addresses?

Posted by on

Hi everyone!

So, try as we did, my husband and I apparently accidentally turned onto a LTZ street in Pisa when visiting Dec 2018. Except we didn't realize it until yesterday when we got a "registered" letter from the municipality of Pisa. The notification of infringement states that you can pay the discounted price of 116,70 Euros if paid within 5 days, 141 Euros if paid 6-60 days after the notification, or the full 223 Euros if paid after that. Being the proactive woman that I am, I logged onto the website right away to pay the 116,70 Euros. I respect and take full responsibility for our mistake. However, when I logged in, the website stated that because I was over the 60 days since initial notification, the only option was to pay in full 223 Euros. This was the first notification we ever received. Furthermore, it says that we were charged (by the car rental agency) the administrative charge for obtaining our driver information. The letter states they received our driver details in late January 2019. No foreign fees have appeared on our credit card statements. I even double checked with the credit card companies, and they verified that no foreign fees have appeared. I am not trying to get out of paying a fine. However, I want to know if there's a way to email the municipality, bringing to their attention that, ethically, they should not charge someone the full fee unless given proper notice. Additionally, they said they charged an administrative fee, which (to date) they have not. It makes me question whether the "official" notification is legitimate or not. What would you all do in this situation? It's important for me to follow up appropriately as a visitor, but it's also morally appropriate for the organization to adhere to their own protocols to prove validity to global citizens.

Posted by
23574 posts

You can argue all the ethics you want but it will do you no good. And as far as they are concerned you have received proper notice. Remember you are not in the US, dealing with the traditions and rights you might or might not have when dealing with our local governments. Consider yourself lucky if the car rental company didn't charge you. That generally is the first clue but there is nothing you can do until you get the letter you just received. Generally by the time the letter arrives all of the early payment options have expired. My guess is that much of this is computer driven with little human intervention.

This is an on-going problem and if you use the about search box you will find dozens of discussions here on the same subject with the same conclusion. Pay it or wait. The next step may be to turn the fine over to a local collection agency. There is some suggestions that a local collection agency "probably" cannot collect but the damage is done if they report the collection action to any of the credit bureaus. Classic example of between a rock and a hard place. No one has any good advice or experience to recommend a positive route to pursue. Sorry. Just part of the travel experience. One of the unfortunate aspects of driving in Italy. But it happens in other countries also.

You can probably google for an address. But how good is your written Italian????

Posted by
1662 posts

Kate, unless Dario or Roberto da Firenze can offer some suggestions. They are from Italy.

Posted by
3812 posts

if you are 101% sure thIs is the first registered letter. Send an email in plain and simple English to: [email protected]
Write the day of offence, day of notification, fine code and plate number. Use the European date format: dd/mm/yyyy (like you did when you tried to pay online, didn't you?)

The reply above is wrong, as explained here it's 5 days from the moment you are notified. Any other option would be against the Italian and EU laws. They may have not not updated the system when the rental agency gave them your name and your foreign address.

I think that The administrative fee they say they charged is included in the 116 €, a ZTL fine is around 80 €. They mean their own fees not the money possibly charged on your cc by the rental agency. Cops couldn't care less about those fees.

Posted by
2 posts

This is very helpful information! Thank you, Dario, for the email contact as well.

Cheers!

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