Camper / trailer and e-Toll - you need to know this!

With a lot of slippage, but a revolution has taken place in the field of road toll settlements in Poland. The National Revenue Administration implemented a solution called e-Toll and it came into force instead of the Viatoll system at the beginning of October this year. So we already have the first two months of experience with the new system behind us. Professional drivers traversing the Polish road network every day can choose dedicated devices, and their readings are combined with the fleet manager's base and in theory the system should work like its predecessor.

As users of recreational vehicles, we are obliged to pay the toll if the GVM of the motorhome or combination of vehicles (for example, in the case of carriages, passenger car plus caravan) exceeds 3.5 tons.

The application is far from perfect

From the very beginning, the users of the application have been complaining about the operation of the application. In the first days / weeks, there were repeated problems with the connection, with the payment (the system operates on a prepayment basis) as well as with the location and registration of the traveled sections.

The mouth of the author of this article regularly leaves obscene words as soon as it is necessary to launch the application. In fact, there is no journey without a big "muck" - reinstallation is basically the order of the day, then you have to go to the etoll.gov.pl website again, log in using a trusted profile , download again the code required to authorize the next installation in mobile device. And hours are wasted. A trip with a trailer around Warsaw can cost 35 zlotys, only 17 zlotys on the return the same route. In the meantime, of course, despite placing the phone in the best possible place in terms of range, the application informs about the loss of coverage - this is still a common problem. In general, if you feel frustrated in the first few days after installing the application, know that you are not alone.

Now a bit of theory, i.e. ... how does the application work (or should it work)?

• After downloading the e-TOLL PL application from the store (AppStore / Google Play), it is necessary to create an account and authenticate with a trusted signature.
• On the user's account on the website, we add a vehicle - based on the registration number, the exhaust emission standard is assigned automatically based on data from CEPIK (of course, there may be several vehicles).
• When logging in to the application, we enter the PIN.
• Each time, before starting the journey, we are obliged to select the vehicle on which we will drive and plan the route in the application.
• The application works in the background showing the current position (GPS) and account status.

The whole process is explained in steps here:
https://etoll.gov.pl/ciezarowe/rejestracja-we-toll/jak-zarejestrowac-sie-we-toll/

Where is the border of the GDPR?

The question that arises in the minds of many of us, average bread eaters is - why the officials of the National Revenue Administration need all our personal data, if the system's task is to collect a toll for a specific section of a given vehicle?

In order to be able to pay for a motorway section, we used to collect the ticket in one place and then pay the toll in another. There was no need to provide a PESEL number and verify any end device with a trusted profile. We just bought the service and paid for it. After settling accounts for the fueled fuel at the station, we do not have to provide our personal data. So why do the services that operate the system need our detailed data along with confirmation of identity? Will the next step be, for example, the integration of the system with the segmental speed measurement and the automatic generation of fines? The answer to this question must probably remain suspended in the realm of guesswork.

This article deliberately does not deal with the topic of tolls on the A2 and A4 motorways for vehicles with a GVM below 3.5 tons, as here the procedure can be simplified and users can have a number of alternative applications.

And how does the new system work for you? What experiences and advice do you have for current and future users?