What to do if télépéage badge not detected on French free-flow motorway?

Reader Question: I recently took a road trip across France, using the toll-free barriers multiple times. One time my télépéage badge did not beep. I know it did not because the other times it made a noise. What should I do to ensure I am not fined?

Télépéage badges have been designed to work with tollbooth-free motorways, and have been promoted by motorway operators as one of the quickest methods to pay tolls on these new-style roads.

In most cases – as you experienced – the badges should be automatically detected when passing through a free-flow motorway without physical barriers. 

The badge should indicate that it has been recorded successfully, such as lighting up or making a noise. 

If you do not experience your badge doing so at a motorway you passed through, your first port of call should be to check if your car was identified going through the toll.

Enter your numberplate on the relevant website of the motorway operator that controls the motorway, and see if your vehicle has pending tolls attached to it. 

In most cases, the pending toll is immediately available, and you have 72 hours from your passage to pay. 

Read more: Will my toll badge work on French barrier-free motorways?

You should not create an account on the site – as you mostly use your télépéage badge to pay tolls – but just check for one-off payments tied to your number plate.

If there are no pending payments for your vehicle, then check your télépéage badge to see if the payment was logged there. 

For most badges, payments come out at the end of the month, so you may have to wait if this information is not available online. 

One motorway operator, Sanef, recommends contacting your télépéage provider to inform them of the issue, so that the payment is added to your end of month invoice, as well as to inform them of the error.

Barrier may not have been open yet

Alternatively, the barrier you passed through may have been in the process of installation but not be finalised. 

This may have been the case on the A13, the largest motorway to be converted to a flux-libre (free-flow) model.

The works on the A13 were completed earlier this week, after beginning in autumn 2024. 

Read more: This French motorway's toll barriers (but not charges) have now ended

If you are still concerned, or if the issue happens again, contact the motorway operator, as there may be an error on their part.