You can appeal a Turkish traffic fine to the criminal judgeship of peace (sulh ceza hakimliği) within 15 days of service under Article 27 of the Misdemeanours Law, Law No. 5326. Paying within one month of service gives a 25% discount and does not waive the appeal. Since 27 February 2026, Law No. 7574 sets most amounts directly in the Highway Traffic Law, Law No. 2918, for example 5,000 Turkish Lira for a first red light. Fines a foreign national leaves unpaid are collected at the next entry, and entry is refused if they are not paid.
A foreign driver usually learns of a Turkish traffic fine weeks after the trip: a speed camera near Istanbul, a red light camera in Antalya, or a charge on the card left with a rental company. Since 27 February 2026 the stakes are higher. Law No. 7574 amended the Highway Traffic Law, Law No. 2918: it wrote new fixed fines into the statute, tied the return of a suspended licence to paying every traffic fine, allowed rental car fines to be issued in the renter's name, and provided that fines a foreign national leaves unpaid are collected at the next entry, with entry refused if they are not paid. The way to challenge a fine is unchanged: an application to the criminal judgeship of peace within 15 days under the Misdemeanours Law, Law No. 5326.
Turkish law treats a fine handed to the driver differently from a fine issued against the plate. The difference decides when your 15 days start and who must pay.
When the traffic police or gendarmerie stop you, the officer completes a trafik idari para cezası karar tutanağı, the traffic fine report, and hands you a copy. Handing over the decision counts as notification, so the appeal period starts that day (Article 27(1) of Law No. 5326 refers to service or pronouncement). The officer may not take the money, because Article 115 of Law No. 2918 bars the personnel who issue fines from collecting them; payment is made at a tax office, an authorised bank, PTT or online. Photograph the report: its series and number are needed for payment and for any appeal.
Where speed is measured by a camera or another technical method, or a parked vehicle's driver is not identified, the report is issued against the plate and sent by post to the registered owner (Article 116). If postal service fails, the report is listed on the notice board of the relevant tax office and deemed served on the thirtieth day after posting. A foreign owner who has moved or lives abroad can therefore be deemed served without seeing the report. Fines on foreign plated vehicles are collected without formal service by informing the driver, and an unserved fine is treated as served on the day it is paid (Article 115).
Law No. 7574 added a paragraph to Article 116: where the rental records that companies must keep available to the police under Additional Article 3 of the Identity Notification Law, Law No. 1774, show that the car was rented on the date of the violation, and the renter has an address suitable for service, the report is issued in the renter's name, served on the renter and collected from the renter. The appeal right then belongs to you, and so does the border risk in section 8. Where no usable address exists, the fine can still reach the company, and your contract decides what it may charge to your card; see our article on renting a car in Türkiye as a foreigner.
A foreigner holding a residence permit can obtain an e-Devlet password at PTT. On turkiye.gov.tr, National Police services list fines written against plates registered to you and against your licence or person, and Revenue Administration services show payments and accept payment by the report's series and number. Under Article 7/a of the Notification Law, Law No. 7201, any individual may also request an e-Tebligat address, an electronic address for official notifications. Once you have one, service on you must be electronic, and a document is deemed served at the end of the fifth day after it arrives, whether or not you open it. PTT issues these addresses to foreigners on a foreign identity number, Blue Card number, passport or secure electronic signature. The general rules are explained in our guide to the Turkish notification law.
Article 27(1) of Law No. 5326 gives 15 days from service or pronouncement to apply to the sulh ceza hakimliği, the criminal judgeship of peace; otherwise the fine becomes final. In practice the period runs from the day after service and, if it ends on a holiday, to the next working day, as in Article 39 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Law No. 5271. If force majeure, such as hospital treatment, prevented a timely application, you may apply within seven days after the obstacle ends, explaining and documenting it; the fine still becomes final, but the judge may stay enforcement (Article 27(2) and (4)). A holiday abroad is not normally accepted as force majeure.
Article 20(2) of Law No. 5326 adds a rule that helps people who hear of a fine late. For Law No. 2918 and for the Law on the Organisation and Duties of the General Directorate of Highways, Law No. 6001, a fine not imposed and served by the last day of the calendar year following the year of the violation can no longer be imposed, and one already imposed lapses. A camera fine for March 2025 first served in 2027 can be challenged on that ground alone.
Article 22(4) of Law No. 5326 applies the territorial rules of Law No. 5271, so the competent judgeship is normally the one for the place of the violation; a judgeship without competence sends the file on rather than rejecting it (Article 28(1)(a)). The petition is filed in person, by a legal representative or by a lawyer, in two copies (Article 27(3)). Filing through the UYAP Vatandaş Portalı, the judiciary's citizen portal, requires a Turkish electronic or mobile signature. A foreigner who has left Türkiye can instruct a Turkish lawyer under a power of attorney signed at a Turkish consulate or before a notary abroad with an apostille.
Article 27(4) requires the petition to identify the decision and set out the evidence against it. A complete file contains:
Paying does not prevent an appeal (Article 17(6) of Law No. 5326), so many drivers pay within the discount period and appeal at the same time; if the fine is set aside, the payment can be reclaimed.
The judge first checks competence, time limit and standing (Article 28(1)). The petition is then served on the authority, which must reply within 15 days with the complete file (Article 28(3)). The judge may decide on the file or hold a hearing with at least one week's notice (Article 28(4)), and finally rejects the application or sets the fine aside (Article 28(8)). Because traffic fines are fixed amounts, the power to reduce an amount in Article 28(9) rarely applies. An objection against the decision can be lodged within two weeks (Article 29), but decisions on fines up to and including 15,000 Turkish Lira are final (Article 28(10)). The same procedure for other fines is covered in our article on objection to administrative fines in Türkiye.
Appeals succeed on facts and procedure, not hardship. Look closely at:
Not knowing the rules, not seeing the sign or being a tourist is not a defence. Saying someone else drove rarely helps with a camera fine, since Article 116 addresses plate fines to the owner; the rental rule in section 1.3 is the main exception.
Article 115 of Law No. 2918 requires payment within one month of service of the report, and Article 17(6) of Law No. 5326 grants a 25% reduction for payment within the payment period. A first red light fine paid within the month therefore costs 3,750 Turkish Lira instead of 5,000 Turkish Lira, and paying keeps your right to appeal. After the month, Article 115 applies a 5% increase for each month or part of a month of delay, up to a total of twice the fine, and the debt is collected under the Law on the Procedure for the Collection of Public Receivables, Law No. 6183. Article 17(3) of Law No. 5326 also allows the authority to permit four equal instalments within one year where the person's economic situation requires it.
Law No. 7574 was adopted on 12 February 2026 and published in the Official Gazette of 27 February 2026, No. 33181, and most of it entered into force that day. Its amounts apply as written during 2026 and, like other fixed administrative fines, will rise from 1 January 2027 by the revaluation rate under the Tax Procedure Law, Law No. 213 (Article 17(7) of Law No. 5326). Rely on the figure printed on your report. The violations foreign drivers meet most often are: How that January increase is calculated is set out in our guide to the 2027 revaluation rate.
| Violation (Law No. 2918) | Fine and Licence Consequence in 2026 |
|---|---|
| Speeding inside settlements (Article 51) | From 2,000 Turkish Lira at 6 to 10 km/h over to 30,000 Turkish Lira at 66 km/h or more over; licence withdrawn for 30, 60 or 90 days in the top three bands |
| Speeding outside settlements | From 2,000 Turkish Lira at 11 to 15 km/h over to 30,000 Turkish Lira at 71 km/h or more over, with the same withdrawals |
| Red light (Article 47) | 5,000 Turkish Lira; within one year 10,000 to 80,000 Turkish Lira for the second to sixth breach; withdrawal from the third breach, cancellation at the sixth |
| Phone while driving (Article 73) | 5,000 Turkish Lira; 10,000 for a second breach within one year; 20,000 and 30 days' withdrawal from the third |
| Seat belt (Article 78) | 2,500 Turkish Lira; 30 days' withdrawal from the fourth breach within one year |
| Alcohol above 0.50 promil, private car (Article 48) | 25,000 Turkish Lira and six months; within five years 50,000 and two years, then 150,000 and five years |
| Refusing a test, or driving after taking drugs | 150,000 Turkish Lira; five years' withdrawal for refusal, cancellation for drugs |
| No licence (Article 36) | 40,000 Turkish Lira; 200,000 if the licence was suspended or cancelled |
| Fleeing a police stop (Article 47) | 200,000 Turkish Lira; licence and vehicle withdrawn for 60 days |
| False or another vehicle's plate (Article 23) | 140,000 Turkish Lira; licence and vehicle withdrawn for 30 days; prosecution under Article 204 of the Turkish Penal Code |
For vehicles other than private cars the alcohol threshold is 0.21 promil, and above 1.00 promil Article 179(3) of the Turkish Penal Code, Law No. 5237, applies as well. The operator who lets an unlicensed person drive is fined 40,000 Turkish Lira through the plate. If you are unsure whether your foreign licence still covers you, read our guides on converting a foreign driving licence and on riding without a licence.
Article 118 attaches penalty points, set by regulation, to each fine. Reaching 100 points within one year means two months' withdrawal and training; a second time in the same year, four months with psychotechnical and psychiatric assessment; three times in one year, indefinite cancellation. A driver primarily at fault in a fatal accident loses the licence for one year.
Law No. 7574 added the same condition to Articles 23, 47, 48, 51, 73 and 78: a licence withdrawn under them is returned only once every fine under Law No. 2918 has been collected, so a forgotten camera fine can keep it withheld. Driving during a suspension costs 200,000 Turkish Lira (Article 36). The grounds and court route are covered in our article on why a driving licence can be confiscated in Türkiye.
Passing a toll point without a valid HGS or OGS balance falls under Article 30 of Law No. 6001, not Law No. 2918. The cost depends on timing:
A toll fine must be paid within one month of service, after which the tax office collects it, and until it is paid the vehicle cannot pass inspection or be sold or transferred (Article 30(3) and (4)). Rental companies normally hold the toll tag and recharge these amounts, so watch your card statement after the trip. Foreign plated vehicles may not leave Türkiye until tolls and penalties are paid, and these can be collected at the customs gate (Article 30(8) and (10)).
For foreign plated vehicles, Article 115 of Law No. 2918 lets traffic fines be collected from the driver without formal service, whatever his nationality, and the vehicle may not leave until they are paid. For foreign nationals, Law No. 7574 added a further paragraph: traffic fines imposed on a foreigner that could not be collected before he left are collected when he next enters, and if they cannot be collected, he is not allowed to enter. A visitor who ignores a fine issued in his own name, including a rental fine under the new Article 116 rule, can be asked to pay at the border and turned back if he does not. Check before travelling and appeal or pay in time. For how this differs from a formal ban, see our article on entry and exit bans in Türkiye.
A final unpaid fine is collected by the tax office under Law No. 6183 (Article 17(4) of Law No. 5326). The tax office serves a payment order, ödeme emri, giving 15 days to pay or declare assets (Article 55 of Law No. 6183). An objection within 15 days is limited to arguing that the debt does not exist, was partly paid or is time barred (Article 58), so the merits of the fine can no longer be raised. The tax office may then attach property, receivables and rights, including Turkish bank accounts, salary and vehicles (Article 62). With the monthly increase, the withheld licence and the border rule, ignoring a fine is rarely cheaper than appealing or paying it within the discount period.
Fifteen days from service under Article 27 of Law No. 5326, or seven days from the end of a force majeure obstacle.
The criminal judgeship of peace, normally for the place of the violation.
No. Payment is not a condition, and paying within the discount period does not waive the appeal.
25% if you pay within one month of service.
Yes, through a Turkish lawyer acting under a power of attorney signed at a consulate or before a notary abroad with an apostille.
Since 27 February 2026, the renter, where rental records identify the renter and give an address suitable for service; otherwise the company receives it and recharges it under the contract.
5,000 Turkish Lira for a first breach, rising to 80,000 Turkish Lira for a sixth breach within one year.
0.50 promil for private cars and 0.21 promil for other vehicles; a first breach costs 25,000 Turkish Lira and six months' withdrawal.
Yes. Traffic fines a foreign national left unpaid are collected at the next entry, and entry is refused if they cannot be collected.
Within 15 days you owe only the toll; up to day 45 the toll is doubled; after that, the toll plus four times the toll.
Not if it was not imposed and served by the end of the calendar year following the violation (Article 20(2) of Law No. 5326).
Only for fines above 15,000 Turkish Lira, by objection within two weeks of service.
No. Every fine under Law No. 2918 must be paid first.
A Turkish traffic fine can be appealed within 15 days before the criminal judgeship of peace under Article 27 of Law No. 5326, or paid within one month at a 25% discount without losing that right. Since 27 February 2026, Law No. 7574 has fixed higher amounts for 2026, allowed rental fines to be issued to the renter, made the return of a suspended licence depend on paying all traffic fines, and provided for a foreign national's unpaid fines to be collected at the next entry. Successful appeals rest on documents: the service date, the vehicle record, the rental contract, the camera evidence and the limitation rule in Article 20(2).
If you have received a fine as a visitor, resident or rental customer, check the service date first and act before the 15 days run out. For a review of the fine and a Turkish petition filed on your behalf, including from abroad, our legal team can take the matter on with our criminal law practice.
