How To Pay Pisa Traffic Violations

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September 10, 2008· Filed Under Speeding fines 

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Many have been caught out once, if not twice, by Pisa’s poorly signposted honey-trap restricted traffic zone or ZTL/TZV.

Seeing as people seem to be having problems understanding just how to pay these fines, and the Pisa authorities are not helping matters since they have not yet got round to translating sections of their site into English.  Really, they have no incentive to seeing as they are making a small fortune out of fining tourists.

This is an attempt to help out all those who have commented on my Speeding, and other traffic fines in Italy post.  There are two methods shown.  The first is very easy, but may leave you wondering if things are legitimate.

Try the first method first, and then if you want to double check, then use the second method.  You should see the same photos.

OK, here goes.

The (Much) Easier Way

The company which manages the collection of the Pisa fines is called S.E.Pi. and those who have been caught on camera can go to the S.E.Pi. collection agency site to see the photos mentioned in the fine notification.

Instructions below:

Then fill in this info:

  • Numero verbale: ‘Offence number’ (solo il numero senza lettere) ‘(only the number without letters)’
  • Anno: ‘Year’
  • Targa: ‘Car Licence/Registration Plate number’
  • Data violazione (gg/mm): ‘Date of violation day/month (dd/mm)’

…and you should see those incriminating photos.  As a matter of interest, those who have waded through the complex system below might like to use this system to see if the same photos come up.

Try not to be put off by the fact that the S.E.Pi. site looks a little as though it was thrown together by a geeky teenager with a garish sense of colour.  Although the site looks rather amateurish, it is official.

The Hard Way

What follows is another way of seeing those Pisa photos, but it is much more complicated.  It’s only advantage in my humble opinion is that the site you visit ‘feel’s’ more convincing than the S.E.Pi.  Please feel free to disagree with me on this.

I’ll leave both methods up so you can choose.

OK, here goes.

Create a Codice Fiscale

First of all, you will need a Codice Fiscale, which is an Italian tax code.  If you have one already, great.  Use it.  If not, which means most people, then try this system.  Beware though, if you do ever come to Italy to either live or work, the code generated below may cause problems.

http://www.comuni.it/servizi/codfisc/

To create the code, enter your

  • Cognome - Surname
  • Nome - First Name
  • Data di Nascita - Date of Birth
  • Comune di nascita (o Stato estero) - Birthplace - in Italian, for Example ‘Gran Bretagna’ = Great Britain, ‘Stati Uniti’ = United States
  • Prov - for those from Europe write ‘EE’ for the States use ‘US’.  For other countries, let me know, and I’ll add them here.

Then click on ‘Calcola il Codice Fiscale‘.  On the next screen that you should see, make a note of the alpha numeric code.  I should look something like this:  JNS JHN 67B02 Z404Z

Now you are good to go!

Registering with the Pisa e-gov Site

Go here:

http://www.e.pisa.it/citel/Init.do

Then click on ‘Nuovo Utente‘ - New User.

Next, you should see a screen with three buttons, as in the image here.

Choose Type of Registration - Select 'Persona Fisica'

Select - Persone Fisiche

Click on the button which says ‘Persone Fisiche’  - Real Person(!)

Then you will have to fill in the details on the following screen:

Fill in the Red starred fields

Fill in the Red starred fields

Information You Need to Provide

  • Codice Fiscale - now you can use your shiny new Italian tax code!  If you have problems, let me know.
  • Cognome - Surname
  • Nome - First Name
  • Data di Nascita - Date of Birth - eg 25/12/1999 (American friends - Watch out for European date format which is Day/Month/Year)
  • Sesso - Sex.  M = Male, so F, well you know what F stands for.  If you are neither M or F, or from Mars then you are in the clear.  The Pisa people have not, as far as I know, worked out an inter-planetary violation delivery system.  They are working on this I imagine.
  • Nascita in Stato Estero - Born Abroad  - select this
  • Comune di Nascita - Birthplace  - write the place where you came into this world, eg New York, Ginette, London

The rest you may leave blank, but entering an email address may be a good idea so a password can be sent.  I don’t know if this happens though.  Filling the rest in may not help anyway.

Make sure the ‘Acconsento al trattamento de dati‘ field is checked.   This gives consent to allow them to hold your details on computer etc.  This is requirement under Italian law.

Now You are on Your Own

Sorry, not having been sent a fine for driving in Pisa’s infamous ZTL/TZV area, I don’t know what exactly you will see once logged in.  However the following information might help those who do log in.

To help you actually see the photo of the violation, this information may help:

  • Numero verbale: ‘Offence number’ (solo il numero senza lettere) ‘(only the number without letters)’
  • Anno: ‘Year’
  • Targa: ‘Car Licence/Registration Plate number’
  • Data violazione (gg/mm): ‘Date of violation (dd/mm)’

If you can send me screen shots of what you see after registering, do so, and I’ll add them here for reference.

Send Me Copies of These Unusual Vacation Snaps

If you wish, and you can, please send me a copy the photos you see.  This will help others.  I will not name names, if you do not want me to, but I may mention dates and locations.  Use this site’s contact system in the first instance, and then I’ll set up an email address just for this.

Here is a snap from the Pisa honey-trap, so you can see what these photos should look like:

Pisa ZTL Camera 3

Pisa ZTL Camera photo example

Hope the above helps.  If you need more information, or spot inaccuracies, just let me know.

Thanks for reading.

Pisa Image from  Freefoto.com

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Comments

15 Responses to “How To Pay Pisa Traffic Violations”

  1. Fern Driscoll said on September 11th, 2008 6:36 pm

    excellent post - thank you! Have not been caught there, yet, but you never know.
    Fern

  2. Alex Roe said on September 11th, 2008 7:57 pm

    Thanks Fern and welcome to Blog from Italy.

    I hope this post proves useful to one or two people.

    And I do hope you do not end up joining this unhappy band.

    All the best,

    Alex

  3. Nicolas Sinclair said on September 17th, 2008 12:49 pm

    Thanks for this.

    I’ve been caught out with this screw-the-tourist revenue raising scam. My photo doesn’t come up but if I do get it I’ll let you have a copy.

    My resolution: never to go back to Pisa.

  4. Alex Roe said on September 17th, 2008 2:59 pm

    Hi Nicolas,

    Glad you found it useful, and sorry to hear about yet another Pisa victim.

    Please do send in those photos - when you manage to see them that is…

    Cheers,

    Alex

  5. Mary said on September 21st, 2008 3:08 am

    I have been caught by this “Pisa scam” It took them 15 months to send me notice of ‘circulation in restricted trafic zone on the Via Roma. Agree, never go go to Piza. Now I must pay the fine of E 113,00 in US dollars……..Date of offence-11/05/2007. Notice sent to me in US on Aug.29,2008. Mary

  6. Shafted Tourist said on September 21st, 2008 3:38 am

    You don’t need to go thru this to see your photos of the offence please see the following post and website for further info

    http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187895-i68-k2226761-o20-Pisa_Restricted_Zone_Traffic_Fine-Florence_Tuscany.html

  7. Alex Roe said on September 21st, 2008 9:23 am

    Many thanks Mr/Ms Shafted,

    I’ll adjust the post above to reflect the alternative method of looking at the photos.

    The only slight problem is that the SEPi site does not look convincing.

    Still, it is much quicker than the method I posted about above.

    All the best,

    Alex

  8. Heather R said on September 23rd, 2008 10:53 pm

    We just received a bill for 113E for a violation we supposedly committed last year; however we cannot view the picture. My Italian friend thinks that because a year has passed, the gov’t has simply removed the photo from their site. Aargh! To compound the problem, a few months after our trip, there was a $50 Visa charge from my rental company with no explanation. I contested it with Visa, but now I have received a bill for $70 from Milan for the $50 plus $20 in fees for not paying the first bill (that I never received an invoice for)! Apparently this $50 charge is standard when a rental company has to research your info and give it to the gov’t.

  9. Alex Roe said on September 23rd, 2008 11:16 pm

    Heather - Aargh!

    Read the small print on the car rental company rental form. These admin charges are mentioned I believe - but no one ever reads the small print, or does not think fines will be a problem.

    Driving in Italy can turn out to be expensive.

    Still waiting for more info on this.

    Sorry to hear about yet another victim.

    All the best,

    Alex

  10. diane cumming said on September 26th, 2008 12:24 pm

    These photgraphs do not prove that you were on a particular street, let alone a particular area. They dont show where you are. Those photographs could have been taken anywhere. It is nothing but a scam. Let’s keep on fighting!

  11. Alex Roe said on September 26th, 2008 3:29 pm

    Hi Diane,

    I agree that the photos do not show a fat lot. They could have been taken just about anywhere too. I know that the street/area name is given - but a camera identification number is not - and all the info could be added with Photoshop.

    As to how you might go about proving that these images cannot be used as valid evidence, I do not know. That’s well and truly (Italian) lawyer territory. I imagine that these cameras are registered and certified somewhere.

    If someone down in Pisa could check the location, that would be good. There is a manhole cover which could be used to help establish if this camera is where it is supposed to be.

    Let’s see what others think.

    I’ll see if I can track down someone blogging from Pisa and ask them to take a look, and some photos, if possible.

    As you say - keep hammering away.

    Cheers,

    Alex

  12. Ann said on October 6th, 2008 9:55 pm

    Has anyone simply not paid the ticket? What are the consequences of going back to a different area of Italy?

  13. Alex Roe said on October 6th, 2008 10:07 pm

    Ann, if you check out my horribly long post and the comments here:
    http://www.blogfromitaly.com/speeding-fines-in-italy/

    You will see that this has been covered. Basically, it is not really known what the consequences of not paying will be. There is, however, a remote possibility that your passport will be flagged, and seeing as your passport details are theoretically passed on to the police whenever you stay in Italy, this might result in you receiving a visit from the Italian police the next time you come to Italy. From what I understand passport details are held on record for 10 years - although theoretically nothing can be put on computer without you having first given authorisation - at least this is the case for Italian residents.

    As to whether you pay or not - that is up to you.

    All the best,

    Alex

  14. Jane Mantini said on November 14th, 2008 1:19 am

    We always seem to get a traffic ticket in Italy. The last one came 10 months after our last trip to Italy. We finally paid it via a cousin who came to the states to visit us and he took the papers back to Italy and paid it for us. Signs are confusing and especially in parking places. Once we saw someone exit a parking place. We quickly got in that spot. When we returned there were orange cones around the area and you guess it a parking ticket. What a bummer. Since we hope to travel to Italy again we paid the tickets. Next time we will use just public transportation

    Jane Mantini

  15. Pissed off said on November 18th, 2008 6:48 am

    I’ve just received ANOTHER fine from Italy - from April 07. We’d already paid two fines from Milan via the car rental company who charged it from my credit card. Now I receive this fine from Pisa authorities over 18 months later! Signposting is hopeless, how are we tourists supposed to understand, for instance, what an empty red circle means? Restricted zone - restricted by/for/to what? Talk about welcoming. All this crap means is we won’t be going back to Italy. The money grabbing I’ties can get stuffed. Plenty of safer places to drive in the world - like Iraq, Afganistan!

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