Turkey blocks foreign‑plated vehicles from leaving if tolls unpaid
The Transport and Infrastructure Ministry issued a new regulation, "Ücretli Karayollarında Yabancı Plakalı Araçlara Ait Geçiş Ücretleri ve İdari Para Cezaları ile Cezaların Tahsiline İlişkin Yönetmelik," which was published in the Official Gazette on 29 July 2026. The rule requires all foreign‑plated vehicles using Turkish toll roads and bridges to be subscribed to the Hızlı Geçiş Sistemi (HGS) or a similar electronic‑payment system and to maintain sufficient balance.
If a vehicle has unpaid tolls or administrative penalties, its debt will be checked electronically at border checkpoints; the vehicle will be denied exit until the debt is cleared. Fines are tier‑ed: no fine if payment is made within 15 days, a fine equal to one‑times the fee for payments made between 15 and 45 days, and a fine equal to four‑times the fee after 45 days.
Revenue from privately operated (BOT) highways is split 60 % to the general state budget and 40 % to the operating company. Data on unpaid vehicles is shared in real time among the General Directorate of Highways, the Treasury‑Finance Ministry and the Trade Ministry for customs control, and payments can be made at customs checkpoints using cash or card.
Entities: Abdulkadir Uraloğlu · General Directorate of Highways · General Directorate of Highways (Karayolları Genel Müdürlüğü) · Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure · Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey · Ministry of Treasury and Finance · Official Gazette of Turkey · Turkey · Turkish Customs Administration
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Foreign‑plated vehicles must have an active HGS tag or sufficient balance in a toll‑collection system to use the roads (official)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Sixty percent of the toll and penalty revenue from privately‑operated (BOT) highways is transferred to the general state budget, the remaining forty percent goes to the operating company (official)
- [● 4 SOURCES] The regulation titled “Ücretli Karayollarda Yabancı Plakalı Araçlara Ait Geçiş Ücretleri ve İdari Para Cezaları ile Cezaların Tahsiline İlişkin Yönetmelik” was published in the Turkish Official Gazete (official)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Foreign‑plated vehicles with unpaid tolls or penalties are prohibited from exiting Turkey at border checkpoints (official)
- [● 16 SOURCES] Information on vehicles with unpaid tolls is shared electronically between the General Directorate of Highways, the Treasury‑Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Trade for customs control (regulation text)
- [● 3 SOURCES] If the toll fee is paid within 15 days no fine is applied; between days 15‑45 a fine equal to one‑times the fee is applied; after 45 days a fine equal to four‑times the fee is applied (official)
- [● 15 SOURCES] Payments for outstanding tolls and penalties can be made at customs checkpoints using cash or a bank/credit card (regulation text)
- [● 16 SOURCES] Unpaid tolls or administrative penalties for foreign‑plated vehicles are checked electronically at border checkpoints and prevent the vehicle from exiting Turkey until cleared (ministerial decree)
- [● 16 SOURCES] Foreign‑plated vehicles must be subscribed to HGS or a similar electronic toll system and maintain sufficient balance to use toll roads (ministerial statement)
- [● 15 SOURCES] Sixty percent of toll and penalty revenue from privately‑operated highways goes to the general state budget and forty percent to the operating company (regulation text)
- [● 15 SOURCES] Fines are 0 % if payment is made within 15 days, 100 % of the fee if paid between 15 and 45 days, and 400 % of the fee if paid after 45 days (regulation text)
- [● 16 SOURCES] The regulation applies to both state‑run toll roads and privately operated (BOT) highways and bridges (regulation text)