Notifications and fines from the General Directorate of Traffic can arrive in two ways: by certified mail or electronically. Until now. As of November, when the DGT wishes to contact certain drivers, it will do so exclusively through the Electronic Road Directorate (DEV). Paper fines are history only, yes, for legal persons (companies).
October 31, 2022 is the deadline for companies that own one or more vehicles register in the Electronic Road Address of the DGT. Those that do not, will be discharged ex officio by the administration itself. And it is that, as of November 1, Traffic communications will only arrive virtually: no paper or certified mail.
Goodbye to paper fines
The General Directorate of Traffic announced its decision last August and began a process of information to all legal entities that appear as owners in the Vehicle Registry. Signing up for the Road Electronic Address is free and the only thing companies need is a mobile phone and an email to receive notification messages: when these occur, they will be able to enter this virtual mailbox where they will find the pending notifications or fines.
The legal effect of the same is the same as that of the notices that arrived by certified mail… and the deadlines, too. When a company receives the text message or e-mail informing it that it has a notification in the DEV, will have ten calendar days to take a look at it and it will be considered read thereafter. The DGT explains that it is “equivalent to signing the delivery of a postal notification to the postman”.
If the company does not proceed to the reading within that period, “the notification would pass to the status of rejected continuing with the procedure. If you access the mailbox and there is a pending notification, it can also be explicitly rejected, remaining in the same state”. Once read, you have twenty calendar days to carry out the actions you deem appropriate, such as paying the fine if it is a sanctioning procedure, submitting allegations… If the company is aware of it, it can become a breach or penalty.
Fines for private drivers
If you do not have a company and are therefore a private driver things won’t change for you: notifications and fines from the DGT will reach you by registered letter. Reason why, if you change your address, you must notify it to, in addition, avoid a penalty of 80 euros.
When postal mail fails because, for example, the driver has not notified his new residence, the communication is carried out through the official bulletins, the municipal bulletin board, the Edictal Board of Traffic Sanctions (TESTRA) or the Single Edictal Board (TEU). ).
The DGT, on the other hand, gives private drivers the option of register in the Road Electronic Address voluntarily to receive, telematically, all communications. As we explained before, when there is a notification, the driver receives an SMS or an e-mail: in these messages he warns that there is a notification in that virtual mailbox, but never reveals what type. To find out, he will have to access the DEV and identify himself with his electronic DNI or with the Digital Certificate.
Finally, you should keep in mind that These two methods are mutually exclusive: If you choose one of the two (certified postal mail or Road Electronic Address), the DGT will only send you its notifications through the one you have chosen.
