A letter from Sweden after your trip can be one of five things. Each has its own sender, legal basis and dispute route. Work out which one you have, check it’s real, and you’ll know whether to pay, dispute or ignore it.
When you need this
A letter or email about a Swedish fine arrives weeks after you got home. Or a rental company charges your card with no explanation. Or a text message says you owe Transportstyrelsen, the Swedish Transport Agency, money and gives you a link to pay. Or you saw a speed camera flash on the E4 and have been waiting for the post ever since.
First: is it a scam?
Start with how it reached you. Transportstyrelsen never sends payment demands or asks for account details by SMS, email or phone. Fake texts and emails about traffic fines circulate in its name. If a text or email asks you to pay, it is fake. Don’t click the link.
A paper letter needs a quick check:
- Find the sender’s contact details yourself, by typing its official website address. Don’t use the phone number or web address printed on the letter.
- Compare the number plate, date and place with your trip. Parking-app receipts and your photos help here.
- For an EPASS24 invoice, start from Transportstyrelsen’s English pages. They name EPASS24 as the channel for foreign-owned cars, and you can check the passages from there.
Which letter is this? Five senders, five routes
| Sender | What it is | Legal nature | Dispute with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transportstyrelsen (ticket issued by the police or a municipality) | Street parking fine (felparkeringsavgift) | Public fee, owner liable | The Swedish police |
| A parking company or landowner | Kontrollavgift on private land | Private civil claim | The company |
| EPASS24 | Congestion tax or a bridge fee | State tax or fee, owner liable | Review request within 60 days |
| Polisen, with a photo | Camera speeding notice | Criminal matter, driver liable | The police unit named on it |
| Your rental company | Re-bill of any of the above | Contract charge | The company |
Street parking fines
A felparkeringsavgift (parking fine; the ticket itself is a parkeringsanmärkning) is issued by the police or a municipal parking attendant. Transportstyrelsen collects it. Swedish law makes the registered owner liable, and names owners in foreign vehicle registers explicitly. So a foreign plate does not make the fine go away.
The deadline is tight: eight days from the ticket. After that, a first reminder gives you 21 days, a second adds 150 kr and 21 more days, and then the case goes to Kronofogden, the Swedish Enforcement Authority. The municipality sets the amount, within a legal range of 75 to 1,300 kr.
To pay from abroad, use Transportstyrelsen’s “paying from abroad” page. It gives an IBAN and BIC; put the slip’s OCR number in the payment message.
To dispute, go to the Swedish police (Polismyndigheten), in writing or through their e-service. The catch: you must pay by the deadline anyway. If the police cancel the fine, you get the money back. For the parking rules themselves, see parking rules and signs in Sweden.
Private kontrollavgift
A kontrollavgift comes from a landowner or parking company, typically at supermarket, hotel and shopping-centre car parks. It is a separate regime under its own statute, and a private claim rather than a fine. Swedish law still limits it:
- The terms must be posted on site with official road signs.
- It may not exceed the municipality’s street fine for the same breach.
- It may not be charged if it would be “obviously unreasonable”.
- Driver and owner are jointly liable. The owner must get a reminder before the claim goes to debt collection, and any court claim must come within two years.
Don’t ignore one. Check the photo, place and time. If you dispute it, write to the company with your evidence. ECC Germany, a European consumer centre, points out that a private claim like this can only be enforced after a court decision, so collection letters on their own cannot take anything from you. It still advises answering rather than going silent.
Congestion tax and bridge fees via EPASS24
Stockholm and Gothenburg charge congestion tax by camera. So do three state bridges: Sundsvall, Motala and Skurubron. Nothing is paid at the roadside. Since 2015 the tax has explicitly fallen on owners in foreign registers too. Transportstyrelsen’s notification partner finds the owner and invoices them by post through EPASS24. You can view and pay passages in an EPASS24 account.
An EPASS24 invoice is therefore normal, not spam. Paying late adds a 500 kr surcharge for congestion tax, or 300 kr and then 500 kr more for a bridge fee. If the invoice is wrong, request a review within 60 days, and pay in the meantime, because a review doesn’t pause the payment. Details are in congestion tax in Stockholm and Gothenburg and bridge tolls and EPASS24.
Speed cameras: why most foreign cars never hear back
Here Sweden differs from many other countries, where the owner often pays. The driver, not the owner, is liable for speeding. The police compare the camera photo with passport and licence photos. If they find a match, a notice with the photo and the measurements goes to the driver. If they can’t, they ask the owner who was driving.
For a foreign-registered car, that breaks down. The police camera unit said in May 2025 that it cannot investigate a foreign driver, because foreign passport and licence photos aren’t available to it. National media describe such photos as discarded. This is practice, not law: EU rules since 2016 let Sweden look up a foreign owner, and those rules are being widened (see below).
A Swedish rental car is different. The rental company is the owner and can be asked who drove. What happens next with a foreign renter isn’t publicly documented. If a notice does reach you, treat it as real.
A notice may offer an ordningsbot, a fixed penalty of 1,500 to 4,000 kr for speeding. Signing it is accepting it. It then counts as a final judgment that only a court can set aside. Don’t sign one you dispute; contact the police unit named on it. Once accepted, pay within three months by IBAN to the police account, quoting the reference number. Unpaid, it goes to Kronofogden with a 600 kr fee. See Swedish speed limits and cameras for the fine table.
Rental cars: the re-bill
A car rented in Sweden is registered to the rental company. Parking fines, congestion tax and bridge invoices go to the company. It pays them and charges your card later, usually adding an administrative fee and VAT set by your contract. ECC Germany, the German consumer centre, calls fees for forwarding a driver’s details “legally questionable”.
If a charge looks wrong, ask the company for the underlying decision and its fee basis, and dispute in writing. Rental insurance and disputing re-bills covers where to escalate. Renting a car in Sweden explains how to ask at the desk so the charge doesn’t surprise you.
What changes by July 2027
EU Directive 2024/3237 adds mutual enforcement of final unpaid road-safety fines over EUR 70. Member states must bring it into national law by 20 July 2027. Public fines are enforced through authorities, not debt collectors: ECC Germany notes that in Germany, foreign fines of at least EUR 70 can already be enforced this way, and only through a federal office. We’ll review this page when the deadline passes.
Practical information
| Item | Amount or rule |
|---|---|
| Street parking fine | 75–1,300 kr, set by the municipality; pay within 8 days |
| Second parking reminder | +150 kr, then Kronofogden |
| Private kontrollavgift | Capped at the municipal fine for the same breach |
| Speeding ordningsbot | 1,500–4,000 kr; pay within 3 months of accepting |
| Unpaid ordningsbot to Kronofogden | +600 kr |
| Late congestion tax | +500 kr surcharge |
| Late bridge fee | +300 kr, then +500 kr |
| Review of congestion tax or bridge fee | Request within 60 days; pay meanwhile |
| Rental company admin fee | Set by your rental contract |
FAQ
Do I have to pay a Swedish parking fine on a foreign car?
Yes. Swedish law makes the registered owner liable for a street parking fine, and it names owners in foreign vehicle registers explicitly. Pay within the deadline on the slip by bank transfer to Transportstyrelsen, quoting the OCR number. If you think the fine is wrong, pay anyway and contest it with the Swedish police; they refund it if they cancel it.
Will a Swedish speed camera fine reach me at home?
Probably not for a foreign-registered car, at least today. Sweden holds the driver, not the owner, liable, and the police camera unit said in 2025 that it cannot investigate foreign drivers. A Swedish rental car is different: the company can be asked who drove. EU rules taking effect by July 2027 widen cross-border enforcement, so treat any notice you do get as real.
Is this letter or text about a Swedish fine a scam?
A text or email demanding payment is: Transportstyrelsen never asks for payment or account details by SMS, email or phone. For a letter, check the sender, plate, date and place against your trip, and contact the sender through its official website typed by hand. EPASS24 is genuine, as Transportstyrelsen’s channel for congestion tax and bridge fees.
What is a kontrollavgift and must I pay it?
It is a private parking fee charged by a landowner or parking company on private land, under its own Swedish statute. It needs proper signs, is capped at the local street fine, and driver and owner are jointly liable. It is a civil claim: dispute it in writing with evidence rather than ignoring it. Abroad it can only be enforced after a court decision.
Why did my rental company charge me after the trip?
The rental company is the car’s registered owner, so congestion tax, bridge fees and parking fines are addressed to it. It pays and re-bills your card, usually adding an administrative fee and VAT set by the contract. Ask for the underlying decision if a charge looks wrong, and dispute it in writing.
How do I dispute a Swedish parking fine from abroad?
For a street fine, apply to the Swedish police for correction or contest liability, in writing or through the police e-service, and pay by the deadline meanwhile; a cancelled fine is refunded. For a private kontrollavgift, write to the company on the slip with photos and receipts. For congestion tax or bridge fees, request a review within 60 days.
How do I pay a Swedish fine from another country?
Use the payment details on the letter itself. Transportstyrelsen publishes an IBAN and BIC for paying street parking fines from abroad, with the OCR number as the message. The police publish an IBAN for ordningsböter, with the reference number. Congestion tax and bridge fees for foreign cars are paid through EPASS24.
Related guides
- Parking rules and signs in Sweden — avoid the next ticket: the sign rules that catch foreign drivers.
- Swedish speed limits and cameras — the full fine table and where cameras stand.
- Congestion tax in Stockholm and Gothenburg — what each passage costs and when it is free.
- Rental insurance and disputing re-bills — how to challenge a rental company’s charge.
- Scams in Sweden — the other tricks aimed at visitors.
Facts verified 2026-09-24. Sources: Transportstyrelsen, Polismyndigheten, Konsumentverket, Sveriges Riksdag (Lag 1976:206, Lag 1984:318, Lag 2004:629), EUR-Lex, ECC Germany — full register in this topic’s source file. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.