🚦 Fine catalogue, points and driver fitness register
In brief
Minor violations cost a warning fine (Verwarnungsgeld) of €5 to €55. You should normally pay it within a week. For bigger violations you get a fine notice (Bußgeldbescheid). Then there are often also points in the driver fitness register.
At 4 or 5 points you receive a reminder, at 6 or 7 a warning. At 8 points the driving licence is withdrawn. Points expire after set periods, for example after 2.5 years for administrative offences with one point.
Step by step
- Check the letterRead the delivery date, the alleged offence and the deadline.
- DecidePay or lodge an objection. An objection is only possible within two weeks.
- Know your pointsAsk the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt for your points total (procedure not checked in full text).
- Consider a seminarWith 1 to 5 points, a driver fitness seminar can deduct one point.
Deadlines
- A warning is effective only if you consent after being informed (§ 56 OWiG).
- A seminar deduction is possible only once within five years.
- The limitation period is interrupted, for example by notification of the investigation (§ 33 OWiG). It ends at the latest after twice the period, at least two years.
- Specific standard rates of the fine catalogue (tables) were not checked in full text.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Fine catalogue
The Bußgeldkatalog-Verordnung (BKatV) governs warnings, standard rates for fines and standard driving bans in road traffic, with tables in the annex. Individual amounts were not checked in full text.
Warning (§ 56 OWiG)
Warning fine of five to fifty-five euros. Payment immediately or within a period that should be one week. After an effective warning, the act can no longer be prosecuted under the same circumstances.
Points system (§ 4 StVG, Anlage 13 FeV)
1 to 3 points: record. 4 or 5 points: written reminder. 6 or 7 points: written warning. From 8 points the holder is deemed unfit and the driving licence must be withdrawn. Anlage 13 assigns offences: 3 points for certain criminal offences with withdrawal or a bar (such as drink-driving), 2 points for other criminal offences and particularly serious administrative offences, 1 point for other administrative offences. With voluntary seminar attendance, one point is deducted at 1 to 5 points, at most once within five years.
Deletion (§ 29 StVG)
2.5 years for decisions on an administrative offence with one point; 5 years for criminal offences in general, for administrative offences with two points and for seminar attendance; 10 years for criminal offences with withdrawal of the driving licence. The period starts when the decision becomes final. In cases of unfitness, the period starts only on reissue, at most 5 years after the decision became final. For some entries a one-year grace period (Überliegefrist) follows.
Limitation (§ 26 StVG, § 33 OWiG)
Since 1 July 2026 a uniform period of 6 months applies (§ 26 Abs. 3 S. 1 StVG, 5th StVG Amendment Act of 12 May 2026, BGBl. 2026 I Nr. 142); the former two-stage rule (3 months, 6 months after the notice) no longer applies. For acts before 1 July 2026 whose 3-month period is still running, the new period applies (transitional rule not checked in full text). The special periods remain: 2 years (type approval) and 5 years (§ 24 Abs. 2 S. 1 Nr. 1 Buchst. c and d, Nr. 2 Buchst. c and d). Interruptions: among others, first questioning, notification of the investigation, issue of the fine notice (if delivered within two weeks, otherwise delivery).
Points trading (§ 4c StVG)
Since 1 July 2026 it is prohibited to deceive the authority about who actually took part in an offence (so-called points trading, Punktehandel). The fine is up to €30,000 (fine range not checked in full text; § 4c StVG contains only the prohibition). Keepers and drivers as well as commercial providers are affected.
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