How a French fine works

France counts in classes, not in individual offences

Where many countries set an amount per offence, France sorts offences into five classes. The class sets the amount, not the offence itself. And within each class there are, in turn, three different amounts, depending on when you pay.

The €135 figure printed on most French traffic fines is the fourth class.

The three amounts per class

Class	Reduced	Standard	Increased
2nd class	€22	€35	€75
3rd class	€45	€68	€180
4th class	€90	€135	€375
5th class	€150	€200	€450

Reduced: Article R49-9. Standard: Article R49. Increased: Article R49-7. All three Code de procédure pénale (Code of Criminal Procedure).

Look at the fourth class for a moment. Between paying quickly and letting it run, there's a factor of four. For the third class it's exactly four times over: €45 against €180.

The reduced amount: 15 days

Le montant de l'amende forfaitaire minorée peut être acquitté soit entre les mains de l'agent verbalisateur au moment de la constatation de l'infraction, soit dans un délai de quinze jours à compter de la constatation de l'infraction ou, si l'avis de contravention est ultérieurement envoyé à l'intéressé, dans le délai de quinze jours à compter de cet envoi.

Code de procédure pénale, Article 529-8. Accessed 26 August 2026.

So you can pay the officer on the spot immediately, or within fifteen days.

The trap if you live abroad

Read that last part again: fifteen days counted from that dispatch. Not from receipt.

Get the letter at home in Belgium or the Netherlands, and part of your fifteen days has already gone to the post before the envelope lands on your doormat. Wait until the weekend to sort it out, and you'll end up paying the standard amount instead of the reduced one. So always check the dispatch date on the letter first, not the day you opened it.

The standard amount: 45 days, pay or contest

Within forty-five days you have to pay, or file a request for exemption within that same period. Do neither, and it happens automatically:

A défaut de paiement ou d'une requête présentée dans le délai de quarante-cinq jours, l'amende forfaitaire est majorée de plein droit et recouvrée au profit du Trésor public en vertu d'un titre rendu exécutoire par le ministère public.

Code de procédure pénale, Article 529-2.

De plein droit means automatically, by operation of law. No official steps in to decide whether your case deserves the increase. The deadline passes and the amount is fixed. After that it's collected via a title the public prosecutor's office has made enforceable.

So you contest within that same forty-five days. Wait until the increased fine arrives, and you're too late for the standard route.

Sources

• Code de procédure pénale, Article R49 (amounts of the amende forfaitaire), version in force since 29 March 2020.
• Code de procédure pénale, Article R49-9 (amounts of the amende forfaitaire minorée), version in force since 12 June 2024, amended by Decree no. 2024-528 of 10 June 2024.
• Code de procédure pénale, Article R49-7 (amounts of the amende forfaitaire majorée), version in force since 29 March 2020.
• Code de procédure pénale, Articles 529-2 and 529-8 (deadlines and consequences).

Consulted on Légifrance, the official French legislation database. The French text is quoted verbatim, the explanation is translated. This page explains the system; which class a specific offence falls under is set out per offence in the Code de la route (Highway Code).