In September 2023 we inadvertently drove into a ZTL ( limited traffic zone) in Ostuni,Italy. Since the zone is electronically controlled with automated cameras, we have had to wait all this time to get a ticket, or “Violation Report”. The report arrived in the mail on May 24, 2024 (start of Memorial Day weekend holiday), in what appears to be a registered mail envelope ( back side of envelope is totally covered by a pink Italian Post Office form). It seems the authority sending the Violation Report considers the date they mail the report (May 10 in our case) as the notification date, not the date we, the addressees (May 28) receive it. This doesn’t seem right. Can this be fought?
The contents seem to indicate we have to pay the fine “within 5 days of objection or notification of the fine” in order to get a 30% reduction, that is, pay the lowest or minimum legal amount.
After that, payment increases about EURO 25 for payment to within 60 days. and about double the original fine beyond that.
If anyone has dealt with this type of situation, please share any info you have on how to proceed. The town authority where it happened does not allow personal checks, but in different parts of the violation report it is stated that the violation can be paid by transfer, or by bank transfer.
Some contributors to this forum have reported using transferwise.com with good results. We have checked with our bank and found out it would cast us $40-50 to do a transfer through them. Obviously, we would like to keep costs to a minimum while avoiding any problems getting the money to the proper authorities as quickly as possible Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated.