How to Contest a Traffic Fine in France: ANTAI, Deadlines, and Appeals

Drivers in France who believe a traffic fine was issued in error can formally contest it, but the correct procedure and deadline depend on the type of fine: a moving violation, a late-payment majorée penalty, or a parking charge. This guide walks through each pathway and what it requires.

Information last verified on 20 July 2026. This article presents general legal information, not legal advice.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers the procedure for contesting fines issued under French national law and by French communes, including moving-violation contraventions handled by ANTAI and parking charges (FPS) handled at the local level. It does not describe fine-contesting procedures in any other country.

Contesting a Traffic Fine in France: Overview

Most French traffic fines start as an avis de contravention, a notice sent by post identifying the offense, the fine amount, and the vehicle. A driver who disputes the notice, whether over the facts, the vehicle identification, or who was driving, has a defined window to file a formal contestation before the fine becomes final.

The correct channel and deadline depend on what stage the fine is at and what kind of violation it covers. A moving violation such as speeding follows one process; a parking charge follows a different one entirely, since parking was decriminalized in 2018 and is no longer handled as a criminal fine at all.

ANTAI, the Agence nationale de traitement automatisé des infractions, is the government body that processes fixed and mobile radar notices and most other automated traffic fines nationwide. It is the correct channel for a requête en exonération regardless of where in France the offense occurred.

The Requête en Exonération: 45 Days via ANTAI

For an ordinary moving-violation fine, the formal contestation is called a requête en exonération. It must be filed within 45 days of the avis de contravention, either by post or online through ANTAI, the national agency that processes traffic fines (Code de procédure pénale Art. 529-2).

The requête en exonération needs to identify the ground for contesting the fine and include any supporting documents, such as a police report for a stolen vehicle or a bill of sale showing the vehicle had already been sold. Filing late, after the 45-day window closes, generally forfeits the right to contest through this process.

Grounds Recognized for a Requête en Exonération

A contestation needs a specific, documented ground rather than a general disagreement with the fine. The grounds most commonly recognized include a stolen vehicle or usurped license plates, a vehicle that had already been sold before the date of the offense, and a case where someone other than the registered owner was actually driving at the time.

For a stolen vehicle or usurped plates, the supporting document is typically the police report (récépissé de dépôt de plainte) filed for the theft or usurpation. For a vehicle sold before the offense date, the declaration of transfer (déclaration de cession) filed at the time of sale is the relevant proof. Where another person was driving, the registered owner generally needs to identify that driver, including their name and address, so the fine can be reassigned. Force majeure, an unforeseeable circumstance outside the driver's control, is also a recognized ground, though it depends heavily on the specific facts and generally requires strong supporting evidence.

Each of these grounds interacts with the consignation rule described below: some remove the deposit requirement entirely, while others still require it.

Consignation: When a Deposit Is Required, and When It Is Not

Many grounds for contesting a fine require paying a consignation first, a deposit equal to the amende forfaitaire amount, before the contestation will be considered admissible (Code de procédure pénale Art. 529-10, 530). The consignation is not a payment of the fine itself. It does not result in any point loss, and it is refunded if the case is dismissed or the driver is ultimately acquitted.

Article 529-10 of the Code de procédure pénale treats the consignation as one of two alternative ways to make a contestation admissible. The other is producing one of four documents, and a driver who can produce one of them does not pay the deposit at all: a report of theft or destruction of the vehicle, or a complaint for usurped plates; a signed letter identifying the person who was actually driving, with their name, address and licence details; the declaration of sale of the vehicle; or proof that an automated driving system was engaged at the time. Force majeure is not one of the listed grounds. In a usurped-plates case, the police report filed for the usurpation itself can stand in for the consignation. Drivers relying on one of these grounds should be ready to provide documentary proof, since the exemption depends on the ground being established, not simply claimed.

Where a consignation is required, it is set at the amount of the amende forfaitaire, the standard fine amount for the offense, not the reduced minorée figure. Paying the consignation is not the same as paying the fine and does not end the case; it is a precondition for ANTAI or the prosecuting authority to actually examine the contestation on its merits.

Amende Forfaitaire Majorée: The Deadline to Challenge a Late-Payment Penalty

If a fine is neither paid nor contested within its window, it can become an amende forfaitaire majorée, the increased late-payment amount. The general deadline to challenge a majorée notice is 30 days from when it was sent (Code de procédure pénale Art. 530).

For road-traffic contraventions the position is different again, and the 3-month figure that circulates is often described backwards. Under Article 530, a réclamation against a majorée notice is admissible within 30 days, and for offences generally it can remain admissible beyond that for as long as the penalty is not time-barred, unless there is proof the person knew of the notice. For a road-traffic contravention specifically, that open-ended extension is capped at 3 months, and the trigger is simply that the majorée notice was sent by registered letter to the address on the carte grise. It is not an address-change rule. A driver who can show that they had declared a change of address before that 3-month cutoff has a further remedy: they may settle by paying the ordinary, non-majorée amount within a further 45 days.

Given how narrow this exception is, drivers who simply missed the standard deadline for reasons unrelated to a misdirected notice should expect the 30-day rule to govern.

Contesting a Parking Charge (FPS): RAPO, Then the Tribunal du Stationnement Payant

Unpaid parking is no longer a criminal fine in France. Since 1 January 2018, following the decentralization reform under loi n. 2014-58 du 27 janvier 2014 (MAPTAM), each commune sets its own forfait post-stationnement (FPS), a civil charge rather than a criminal amende.

Contesting an FPS starts with a recours administratif préalable obligatoire (RAPO), a mandatory prior appeal filed with the commune or its delegated operator within 1 month of the FPS notice. If the RAPO is rejected, or if the commune does not respond within 1 month, the driver can escalate the dispute within a further 1 month to the Tribunal du stationnement payant (TSP, formerly the Commission du contentieux du stationnement payant, or CCSP). The body was renamed effective 1 January 2025, though its role handling FPS disputes is unchanged.

Because each commune fixes its own FPS amount, the charge itself can vary significantly from one city to another for what looks like the same parking situation. The RAPO is a required first step; a driver cannot skip directly to the Tribunal du stationnement payant without first filing it and either receiving a rejection or waiting out the 1-month response period.

Deadlines at a Glance

The various contestation pathways each run on their own clock, and mixing them up is one of the most common mistakes. As a quick reference:

• Requête en exonération for a moving-violation fine: 45 days from the avis de contravention, filed with ANTAI.
• Amende forfaitaire majorée: 30 days from the majoration notice, or a 3-month window solely to prove a declared address change caused a misdirected notice.
• FPS, first step: RAPO to the commune within 1 month of the notice.
• FPS, second step: appeal to the Tribunal du stationnement payant within 1 month of a RAPO rejection or non-response.

What Happens After You Contest

A contestation is not a guaranteed win, and it is not free of downside. If a requête en exonération is rejected, the fine typically remains due, and a driver who let the standard payment window pass while contesting can end up owing the higher majorée amount once the contestation fails. Similarly, an unsuccessful RAPO or TSP appeal leaves the FPS due as originally charged.

This page describes the procedure for contesting a fine in France; it is not a recommendation to contest any particular fine, and whether a given ground applies depends on the specific facts of the case.

Many contested fines involve speeding; see speeding penalties in France for the fine and points schedule by speed band. A driver on a probationary license faces additional consequences from any fine that results in point loss. Fines connected to an alcohol offense follow separate rules; see drink-driving penalties in France. For a broader look at driving-related rules, see the France driving laws hub.

Disclaimer

This page provides general information about the procedure for contesting traffic fines in France for educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice, and outcomes depend on the specific facts of each case. Always verify current deadlines and requirements with ANTAI, service-public.gouv.fr, or a qualified French avocat before acting on this information.