Traffic fines in a rental car in Greece: who is liable

Who counts as the offender when the vehicle is rented?

The code in force is Ν.5209/2025, published in ΦΕΚ (Εφημερίδα της Κυβερνήσεως, the Government Gazette) Α΄ 100 of 13 June 2025. Article 115 of Ν.5209/2025 repeals the previous Κ.Ο.Κ., ν.2696/1999, in its entirety apart from four named articles, so an article number you find on an older page — «άρθρο 104 Κ.Ο.Κ.» for fines is the common one — is a citation to the repealed ν.2696/1999 and not to Ν.5209/2025, where the fine procedure is Article 107. Parts Α΄ to Δ΄, which carry the penalty categories and the whole fine procedure, took effect three months after that publication — but a listed set of provisions applied from publication itself, among them Article 17 on drivers' duties, Article 38 on parking and Article 46 on alcohol. We read the code as amended by ν.5322/2026 (ΦΕΚ Α΄ 117 of 24 July 2026) and checked nothing enacted after that date.

There is no single liability rule. Four provisions answer four different situations, and the difference between them is deliberate:

• Caught in the act (επ' αυτοφώρω). Article 107 par. 1: the competent officer certifies the administrative fine against the person caught, on paper or electronically, for each offence. That is the driver.
• Detected only from the registration number. Article 107 par. 6: the notice is stuck on the windscreen, and for offences recorded by electronic means it is served on the person shown as the owner of the vehicle. The same paragraph states expressly that it applies where the vehicles are rented from car-rental companies or from leasing companies.
• Parking. Article 38 par. 13: the offender is the driver caught in the act or, in the driver's absence, the keeper — but where the vehicle belongs to a rental business and is on rent, the offender is deemed to be the lessee shown in the rental agreement.
• Tolls. Article 33 par. 10: the owner and the driver are liable εις ολόκληρον (jointly and severally) for the toll, with the same rental carve-out moving the obligation to the lessee under the agreement. Par. 11 of the same article makes non-payment a category Ε2-Α offence.

The phrase εις ολόκληρον occurs exactly once in the whole code, in the toll provision. Article 107 par. 6 is not joint liability: it is an attribution to the owner that the owner can displace, and the paragraph sets out how. The payment side of tolls is covered in our separate tolls guide.

One further rule prevents double counting: where the driver is also the owner or keeper of the vehicle, Article 107 par. 8 charges only the fine that concerns the owner or keeper.

How does a camera fine reach you after you have flown home?

Through the rental company, on a clock that starts without you. Under Article 107 par. 6, an owner who says he was not the offending driver must act within an exclusive seven-day deadline running from the date the notice was served or stuck on the windscreen — not from the day anyone contacts you.

What the code requires inside those seven days is two documents, not one:

• A υπεύθυνη δήλωση (a sworn declaration under ν.1599/1986) from the owner, filed at the police station for the owner's area of residence or at the service that certified the offence, stating that the owner was not the offending driver and naming the true driver.
• A corresponding υπεύθυνη δήλωση from the person named, produced together with the first and accompanied by any objections that person has to the offence.

If the declaration is not filed within the deadline, the code provides that the owner of the vehicle is deemed to be the offender. Where the keeper is a company, the sentence dealing with co-owners holding unequal shares names the company's νόμιμος εκπρόσωπος (legal representative) as the person deemed to be the offender.

In practice a visitor who has already flown home is being asked, through the rental company, for a Greek sworn declaration inside a week — and the second declaration has to come from that visitor personally.

What no source establishes is what any particular company does with that mechanism. We read the published terms of five rental companies operating in Greece: none describes the Article 107 par. 6 procedure, none states that it will name its customer to the authority, and none says what becomes of the second sworn declaration. Ask the company you are contracting with, and do not assume.

Separately from the naming procedure, Article 107 par. 2 gives the person fined the right to file objections (αντιρρήσεις) within three days, running from service of the notice, to the authority the certifying officer belongs to. None of this is an entitlement to have a fine cancelled. It is a procedure with deadlines, and the code says what happens when they pass unused.

How much does the fine cost?

The new code prices by category rather than by individual offence. Article 108 par. 5 sets six of them:

• Ε1-Α: an administrative fine of 30 euro.
• Ε1-Β: 30 euro plus withdrawal of the driving licence for 10 days.
• Ε2-Α: 150 euro.
• Ε2-Β: 150 euro plus withdrawal of the driving licence for 20 days.
• Ε3-Α: 350 euro.
• Ε3-Β: 350 euro plus withdrawal of the driving licence and of the vehicle's registration documents for 30 days.

Category Σ, which the code uses for antisocial driving, adds a further 40 days of licence withdrawal on top. Some offences sit outside that ladder, in category Ε4, with the amount written into the article that governs them rather than into the table.

Offences do not simply add up. Article 107 par. 9 provides that where several offences coincide a single total administrative fine is imposed: the fine for the most serious offence, increased by half of the fines prescribed for the other concurrent offences.

Which offences does a visitor actually run into?

Speed first, and the limits changed recently. Article 24 par. 1 sets a maximum of 30 km/h inside built-up areas, and 50 km/h on one-way roads with at least two lanes separated by longitudinal markings, on two-way roads with at least two lanes per direction, and on two-way roads with a central island — all of that unless special signage provides otherwise, and the signage exception is exercised through a delegated provision under Article 112. The 30 km/h default was held back by Article 114 par. 1 until 1 January 2026, so anything written before that date describes the old limit.

Outside built-up areas, the table in Article 24 par. 2 gives a passenger car 130 km/h on motorways, 110 km/h on expressways and 90 km/h on the rest of the road network. Motorcycles over 125 cc have the same three figures; up to 125 cc it is 80, 80 and 70. On unsurfaced roads outside built-up areas the limit is 40 km/h unless signed otherwise, and mopeds are limited to 45 km/h.

Article 24 par. 9 then prices the excess. Up to 20 km/h over the limit is category Ε2-Α. More than 20 and up to 30 is Ε2-Β. More than 30 and up to 50 is Ε3-Β. More than 50 km/h over is category Ε4, with a fine of 700 euro and on-the-spot withdrawal of the driving licence for 60 days. There is also an absolute limb, independent of the posted limit and subject to the two heavier classifications above: driving on a motorway above 150 km/h, on an expressway above 130, or on the rest of the network above 120, is category Ε3-Β. For driving above 200 km/h the code sets category Ε4, a fine of 2,000 euro and a one-year licence withdrawal — and we note that the adopted and published text at that point imposes the penalties «στον επιβάτη», on the passenger, where every neighbouring provision says «στον παραβάτη», on the offender. Correcting a statute is not this page's job.

Mobile phones. Article 17 par. 2 permits the use in motion of a mobile telephone or other telecommunications device, including a wrist-worn electronic device, only when it is mounted in a dedicated position for hands-free listening or for running navigation applications, or when it is used with a wireless earpiece. Filming or live-streaming from the driver's seat while in motion is prohibited unless the device is mounted. Also prohibited in motion are wired earphones connected to portable radios or similar audio devices, and a television or other portable touchscreen device operating as such. Breaches of par. 2 are category Ε3-Β, except the breach of its first sentence, which is Ε2-Α and category Σ. For riders of bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles and three-wheelers the same prohibition is set out separately, in Article 44 par. 1(ζ).

The code adds that in the case of the sixth sentence of par. 2, which is the mobile-phone rule, a driver who causes a road accident with grave bodily harm or death faces the penalties of Article 290Α of the Ποινικός Κώδικας (the Criminal Code, ν.4619/2019) on dangerous driving, on top of the administrative sanctions.

Alcohol. Under Article 46 par. 1 a driver is treated as under the influence of alcohol from 0.50 grams per litre of blood, or from 0.25 milligrams per litre of exhaled air. Three bands follow. From 0.50 to 0.80 g/l of blood: category Ε3-Β, so 350 euro plus 30 days' withdrawal of the driving licence and the registration documents, the licence returned only on proof that the fine was paid. Above 0.80 and up to 1.10 g/l: category Ε4, 700 euro and on-the-spot withdrawal of the licence for 90 days. Above 1.10 g/l: category Ε4, with imprisonment of at least two months, a fine of 1,200 euro and on-the-spot withdrawal of the licence and the registration documents for 180 days, the licence returned after six months. In all three the vehicle is compulsorily immobilised and impounded. Refusing the test is not a way out: Article 46 par. 6 presumes anyone who refuses to be above 1.10 g/l, the top band.

If you are renting a boat rather than a car, Article 46 par. 10 applies paragraphs 1 to 6 by analogy to skippers and operators of small craft, marine leisure craft, motorised boats and speedboats, with the administrative sanctions of Article 157 of the Κ.Δ.Ν.Δ., the maritime code the statute refers those sanctions to.

Two smaller points that belong specifically to rentals. Article 103 par. 1, as re-enacted by ν.5322/2026, provides that vehicles rented from car-rental or leasing companies carry only a copy of the άδεια κυκλοφορίας (the vehicle registration document) and are not required to carry proof of insurance or proof that road tax has been paid. Par. 2 of the same article makes a missing document a category Ε1-Α offence, so 30 euro. And Article 102 prohibits handing the driving of a vehicle to a person who does not hold the appropriate driving licence, or whose licence has been withdrawn, and places that breach in category Ε3-Β — 350 euro plus a 30-day withdrawal. That is the legal weight behind the additional-driver clause in your rental agreement.

What happens if you leave the vehicle parked illegally?

Parking is one of the two places where the code names the lessee directly — the other is the toll rule of Article 33 par. 10. Article 38 par. 13 makes the offender the driver caught in the act or, in the driver's absence, the keeper, and then provides that where the vehicle belongs to a rental business and is on rent, the offender is deemed to be the lessee shown in the rental agreement. No seven-day deadline, no naming procedure: the statute has already decided.

Article 38 par. 11 sets the amounts by reference to the categories. The offences at points (β), (γ), (στ), (ζ), (η), (θ), (ι) and (ιε) of par. 2 are category Ε1-Α, and those at points (ια), (ιβ), (ιγ), (ιδ) and (ιθ) are Ε1-Β. From there the ladder rises: points (ιστ), (ιζ) and (ιη) are Ε2-Β plus category Σ plus a 70-day withdrawal of the registration documents, point (κ) is Ε3-Β plus category Σ, and point (δ) is category Ε4, with a fine of 1,200 euro, a 60-day on-the-spot licence withdrawal and imprisonment of at least one year.

Two features of the same paragraph matter more to a visitor than the ladder does:

• Those administrative fines are set at half when the offence concerns a moped or a motorcycle. If you are renting a scooter, the parking fine is halved by the statute itself.
• If the illegal parking continues beyond three hours from the certification of the offence, a fresh offence is certified, by the same officer or another, and after the second three-hour period passes the vehicle is moved.

That combination — the lessee named by statute, a fine that repeats every three hours, and a tow at the end of it — is why an abandoned parking problem reaches you rather than staying with the company.

When is the fine due, and what does the code say about a discount?

Article 107 par. 3 gives two months: the administrative fine is paid to the beneficiary Ο.Τ.Α. (οργανισμός τοπικής αυτοδιοίκησης, the local authority) within two months of its certification. For an offence established by the special electronic devices of par. 4, meaning cameras, par. 5 sends the money elsewhere and starts the clock later: it is paid to the Εθνικό Ταμείο Οδικής Ασφάλειας (the National Road Safety Fund) of the Υ.Ο.Τ. - Η.Δ.Ο.Υ. (Υπηρεσία Οδικών Τελών - Ηλεκτρονικής Διαχείρισης Οδικών Υποδομών, the road tolls and electronic road infrastructure management service) within two months of service.

Fines not paid within those two months are certified for collection under the Κ.Ε.Δ.Ε. (Κώδικας Είσπραξης Δημοσίων Εσόδων, the public revenue collection code, ν.4978/2022) — by the municipality for officer-certified fines, and by the Υ.Ο.Τ. - Η.Δ.Ο.Υ. for camera fines.

The current code provides no reduction for paying early. We searched the adopted text of Ν.5209/2025 for every reduction term it could use and for every payment window it contains, and there is no provision anywhere in it reducing a fine because it was paid quickly. The single occurrence of the word «έκπτωση» (discount) is in Article 107 par. 3, and it says the opposite: that a particular fine relating to the ΚΤΕΟ (the periodic vehicle roadworthiness inspection) is paid without a discount once a ten-day deadline has passed unused. Search results and automated summaries on this subject widely describe a reduction for prompt payment. We did not find one in the code, so this page does not repeat it, and we cannot tell you what it would apply to.

Two official Greek sources disagree about the payment window, and we report both rather than choosing between them. The statute says two months, as above. The Εθνικό Μητρώο Διοικητικών Διαδικασιών at mitos.gov.gr, the state's own register of administrative procedures, still described the procedure under «άρθρο 104 του Κ.Ο.Κ.» when we read it — an article of the repealed ν.2696/1999 rather than of Ν.5209/2025, which replaced it — and gave fifteen days to pay at ΕΛ.ΤΑ. (the Hellenic Post) or the municipal treasury, with two months available at the treasury. Its own legislation block cites the 1999 law and never mentions the 2025 one. The page carried a last-updated stamp of 07/08/2026.

The three-day objection window is the same in both.

What can the rental company charge you for handling it?

This is where the law stops. The fine is set by the code; what the rental company charges for dealing with it is a term of your rental agreement, and the companies that publish a figure do not publish the same figure.

From the operators' own published terms, none of whose pages carries a publication date:

• Autohellas Hertz publishes a Fine Administration Fee of 30 euro, non-refundable, to cover administration expenses, and states that all fines resulting from the driver's conduct are borne solely by the renter.
• Alamo Greece, operated by ΣΦΑΚΙΑΝΑΚΗΣ Α.Ε. (Sfakianakis S.A.), publishes under clause 28 that the driver is fully responsible and must pay all fines himself before leaving Greece, must produce the tickets and payment documents to the branch, and must pay a non-refundable administration fee of 50 euro plus ΦΠΑ (VAT).
• Europcar Greece, operated by KINSEN Hellas, publishes under clause 22 that the driver must pay the fines himself before leaving Greece and that, failing that, a Traffic Violation Administration Fee of 35 euro plus VAT plus airport fees is charged. The same clause carries a separate non-refundable 100 euro plus tax where licence plates are lost.
• Sixt Greece publishes that where the renter does not pay the fine and Sixt intervenes in the procedure an administration fee applies, without publishing the amount, and adds that where the licence plate is removed because of a traffic offence the renter is charged for the vehicle's disuse.
• Autounion Car Rental publishes that the renter is responsible for the cost of parking fines and other penalties incurred while the vehicle is on rent, and that the supplier will pass the relevant charge on plus any administrative expenses — with no figure at all.

Three published figures, two companies publishing none, and one of the three conditional on your not paying the fine yourself. There is no typical or average administration fee for us to quote, and we are not going to invent one: your agreement decides whether a fee applies and how much it is. Read that clause before you sign, and ask if it is missing.

It is worth noticing what those terms do not say. None of the five states that the fine itself is taken from your card or from the security deposit. Two of them say the opposite in the clauses quoted above: Alamo and Europcar both require the driver to pay the fines personally before leaving Greece. Whether an administration fee of this kind is lawful or enforceable under Greek consumer law is a legal question we could not source, and we do not answer it here.

Nor is there a source for how long after a rental a company can still bill you. Article 106 par. 6 refers to the παραγραφή (limitation) of the offence without stating a period, and we found no provision fixing one.

What is taken on the spot, and what goes back to the company?

An Ε1-Α, Ε2-Α or Ε3-Α fine is money alone. The Β categories add a withdrawal of the driving licence, and Ε3-Β takes the vehicle's registration documents as well — which in a rental reaches two parties at once.

Article 106 par. 3 answers the company's half: for vehicles rented from car-rental or leasing companies, where the rental period is shorter than the period of the withdrawal imposed, the registration documents are returned to the lessor company on production of the relevant rental agreement. A parallel rule applies to parking-related withdrawals under Article 38 par. 21. The vehicle goes back on the road; the withdrawal against you is a separate matter.

Article 106 par. 6 is the sharper edge for a visitor. Where the registration documents and the driving licence cannot be taken on the spot, the driver, keeper or owner must hand them over within five days of being notified, and a person who does not comply is punished with the penalties of Article 169 of the Ποινικός Κώδικας on απείθεια (disobedience to an authority).

What happens to a driving licence issued by another State when a 30-, 60-, 90- or 180-day withdrawal is imposed is not something we could source. The code speaks of withdrawal of the άδεια οδήγησης (driving licence) without addressing licences issued elsewhere, and we are not going to guess on your behalf.

One narrow but useful condition: Article 107 par. 4 permits the special electronic devices to be used only where the public has been warned of their existence and operation by fixed or mobile signs.

Will a Greek fine follow you home?

For a Greek-registered hire car driven in Greece, the EU machinery everyone expects to be the answer is not engaged. Directive (EU) 2015/413, as amended by Directive (EU) 2024/3237, states its objective as facilitating the enforcement of sanctions where the offences are committed with a vehicle registered in a Member State other than the Member State in which the offence took place. A Greek-plated rental in Greece does not meet that condition: Greece already holds the registration data and has no one to ask.

That directive is still why a fine travels in the other direction, and it is worth knowing what it now covers. Article 2 of 2015/413 originally listed eight offences, among them speeding, drink-driving, driving while under the influence of drugs, and illegally using a mobile telephone while driving. Directive (EU) 2024/3237 adds more, among them failing to keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front, dangerous overtaking, dangerous parking or stopping, crossing one or more solid lines, and wrong-way driving. Where proceedings are opened, the Member State of the offence informs the owner, the holder of the vehicle or the otherwise identified suspected offender, and the information letter is sent in the language of the vehicle's registration document if available, or in one of the official languages of the Member State of registration.

The routes that could reach a renter who has gone home are two, and both carry a floor:

• Council Framework Decision 2005/214/JHA on mutual recognition of financial penalties covers conduct which infringes road traffic regulations without a dual-criminality check, but the competent authority in the executing State may refuse to recognise and execute the decision where the financial penalty is below EUR 70.
• Directive (EU) 2024/3237 adds mutual assistance in identifying the person concerned, addressed to the Member State of registration or the Member State of residence and used after the authorities of the Member State of the offence have exhausted all other means available to them, and mutual assistance in enforcement, which may be requested only where the decision is administrative, final and enforceable, the Member State of the offence holds proof of service, the person concerned was informed of and had an opportunity to exercise the legal remedies, and the fine is higher than EUR 70.

Two dates and one gap belong beside that. Member States must bring the measures complying with Directive (EU) 2024/3237 into force by 20 July 2027, and we found no Greek implementing measure, so nothing on this page should be read as saying that the new mutual-assistance machinery is operating in Greece today. Greece's notified transposition of the original exchange mechanism is recorded on EUR-Lex as a measure published in ΦΕΚ Α΄ 113 of 8 May 2014, titled as the adaptation of Greek law to Directive 2011/82/EU, the predecessor of Directive (EU) 2015/413; the listing gives no instrument number, and we will not supply one from a secondary source.

You can set the category amounts against that EUR 70 floor if you like — 30 euro sits below it, 150 and 350 sit above — but that is arithmetic on two published numbers, not a prediction about what any authority will do about your fine.