Refund policy and process

Autovig EN explainer on refund policies for European vignettes, including withdrawal periods, activation rules and operator contact channels.

Across every system in this guide the answer turns on one question: has the vignette already become valid? Before that moment, refunds are routine and usually complete. After it, they are the exception — and in most countries there is no route back at all.

What each operator allows

Slovenia

Before validity starts Withdraw and get the full purchase price back, at any time before the e-vignette becomes valid. DARS pays out within 14 days of approving the request

After validity starts Withdrawal is no longer possible; only the proportional residual-value refund in the cases DARS provides for

Slovakia

Before validity starts Cancel through the portal on the day of purchase, or at any point before validity starts

After validity starts No cancellation. If a plate correction is approved and you had meanwhile bought a second vignette with overlapping validity, you can claim the duplicate payment back

Austria

Before validity starts The 14-day consumer withdrawal right applies to online purchases — which is exactly why a digital 2-month or annual vignette bought online only becomes valid on the 18th day

After validity starts Once the product is running, the withdrawal right is spent

Czech Republic

Before validity starts Refund requests go to SFDI through the published form

After validity starts —

CountryBefore validity startsAfter validity starts

SloveniaWithdraw and get the full purchase price back, at any time before the e-vignette becomes valid. DARS pays out within 14 days of approving the requestWithdrawal is no longer possible; only the proportional residual-value refund in the cases DARS provides for

SlovakiaCancel through the portal on the day of purchase, or at any point before validity startsNo cancellation. If a plate correction is approved and you had meanwhile bought a second vignette with overlapping validity, you can claim the duplicate payment back

AustriaThe 14-day consumer withdrawal right applies to online purchases — which is exactly why a digital 2-month or annual vignette bought online only becomes valid on the 18th dayOnce the product is running, the withdrawal right is spent

Czech RepublicRefund requests go to SFDI through the published form—

Austria's rule is the one most often misread. The 18-day delay is not a processing queue; it is the 14-day withdrawal window plus three days for post. It applies only to digital 2-month and annual vignettes bought online by consumers in ASFINAG's own shop, and never to the 1-day and 10-day products or to purchases at a distributor, toll station or vending machine.

Where a refund is simply not the mechanism

Two situations feel like refund cases and are not.

You paid, but the payment was blocked. Moldova's portal warns against buying between 23:45 and 00:01: the payment can fail, the vinieta is then not valid, and the money returns to the card automatically. That is a reversal, not a refund — and you still need a valid vinieta before driving.

You were fined and want the vignette back. Nothing is returned. In Slovenia the opposite happens: DARS issues an e-vignette dated to the day of the offence and invoices you for it alongside the fine. In Moldova, paying the fine does not discharge the obligation to pay the vinieta itself.

Keep the paperwork that makes a claim possible

Every process above asks for the payment confirmation, and several also ask for the vehicle registration certificate. Keep both until the trip is over — the confirmation email or PDF is what proves the purchase date, which is what every deadline in the table is measured from.

Operator detail per country: Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Moldova.