Swiss Traffic Fines: The Bussen and Ordnungsbusse Catalogue Explained

Bussen, the German word for fines, and Ordnungsbusse, the fixed penalty specifically, are two of the most searched traffic terms in Switzerland, because most driving violations in the country are resolved this way rather than through a court appearance. This page explains what the Ordnungsbussenverfahren actually is, the statutory ceiling on a fixed penalty, and why paying one does not always close the file for good.

It draws on the OBG, the Ordnungsbussengesetz, and its companion ordinance the OBV, the Ordnungsbussenverordnung, whose own fine schedule is revised periodically rather than fixed forever.

It is part of our wider Swiss traffic law coverage, itself part of the broader guide to Swiss law.

Information last verified on 21 July 2026. This page provides general legal information about Swiss law and does not constitute legal advice in an individual case.

What the Ordnungsbussenverfahren actually is

The OBG creates a fixed penalty track that exists specifically to keep minor traffic violations, and a handful of other minor regulatory offences, out of the ordinary criminal courts. Instead of a prosecutor's file and a possible court date, a qualifying violation carries a fixed franc amount a driver can simply pay.

Art. 1 Abs. 5 OBG adds a detail that matters for how the system is meant to work. The accused person's background and personal circumstances play no role in the amount charged. Two different drivers committing the identical minor violation pay the identical fine, which is the tradeoff for a system built around speed and consistency rather than individualized judgment.

The statutory ceiling: CHF 300, and never higher

Art. 1 Abs. 4 OBG sets a hard statutory ceiling. An Ordnungsbusse cannot exceed CHF 300, whatever the underlying violation. This is a genuine ceiling on the fixed penalty procedure itself, not a claim about what any traffic fine anywhere in Swiss law can cost.

A violation serious enough to warrant a larger fine, or a custodial sentence, is by definition not eligible for this procedure at all, and is handled instead as an ordinary criminal case, discussed further below.

Paying keeps the matter out of the ordinary criminal procedure entirely

The OBG does not contain a single sentence stating that a paid Ordnungsbusse produces no criminal record. What it does instead is build a structural mechanism with the same effect, and that mechanism is worth understanding rather than searching for a sentence that does not exist.

Art. 6 Abs. 1 and 2 OBG lets an identified driver pay immediately or within a 30 day Bedenkfrist, a reflection period. Paying immediately produces a receipt issued without the driver's name on it at all.

Paying, or having the amount offset against something owed, makes the fine final under Art. 11 OBG, using the word rechtskräftig. Not paying within that 30 day window is what triggers an ordinary criminal procedure under Art. 6 Abs. 4 OBG, for the identical violation.

Because payment is what keeps a case inside the fixed penalty track, a paid Ordnungsbusse never becomes a Strafbefehl or a court judgment. There is nothing left to convict, since the matter closed as a fixed penalty rather than opening as a criminal file at all. Art. 12 OBG adds that no costs are charged in the fixed penalty procedure itself, a genuinely different result from an ordinary criminal case, where court costs can apply regardless of the eventual sentence.

A representative sample of fine amounts, read directly from the current annex

The OBV's Art. 1 sets out that Anhang 1 covers violations of the SVG and Anhang 2 covers violations of other statutes the OBG reaches. Anhang 1 is long and tiered, so this page gives only a representative, low end sample confirmed directly from the ordinance text as it stood on 1 July 2026, not a complete schedule.

A speeding excess of 1 to 5 km/h over the limit costs CHF 40 in town, and the same excess costs CHF 40 on an ordinary out of town road or an Autostrasse. On a full motorway, that identical 1 to 5 km/h excess costs only CHF 20, since a small margin is treated as lower risk at motorway speeds.

Using studded tires without the required speed limit placard, or with a non compliant one, costs CHF 20, while using studded tires outside the permitted season costs CHF 60. Using an unauthorized acoustic warning device costs CHF 40. Driving without a required speed placard costs CHF 20, but driving without a required number plate is a far more expensive item at CHF 140, which is a useful illustration of how widely the annex ranges even at its lower end.

These figures come directly from the OBV text as it stood on 1 July 2026, the most recent revision date confirmed for this page. Anything not listed here, particularly a fine for a larger speeding excess, needs to be looked up directly in the current Anhang 1 rather than assumed from the pattern of these low end examples. A schedule this granular does not scale in a way a reader can safely extrapolate.

When a violation leaves the fixed penalty track entirely

Not every SVG fine is a fixed penalty. Art. 90 Abs. 1 SVG punishes an ordinary rule violation with a Busse as well, but through the regular criminal procedure, complete with a prosecutor's file, unless that same violation also happens to appear on the OBV's own Bussenliste and therefore also qualifies for the fixed penalty shortcut.

A speeding excess large enough to reach Art. 90 Abs. 2 SVG, where a gross violation creates a serious danger to others, is never eligible for the fixed penalty procedure at all. The same is true of the far higher excesses covered by Art. 90 Abs. 3 and Abs. 4, the Raserdelikt thresholds explained in full on our excessive speeding page. Those cases run as ordinary criminal matters from the outset, with the custodial exposure that implies.

Two separate systems, and paying one does not immunize the other

The fixed penalty system and the licence withdrawal system are built into different parts of the SVG. Art. 90 and Art. 91, where the fixed penalty procedure and the ordinary criminal fine both live, sit in Titel V, the Strafbestimmungen. The licence measures sit in Titel II, an entirely different part of the same statute, and run under Art. 16 SVG and following as their own administrative proceeding.

Art. 16 Abs. 2 SVG ties an administrative withdrawal or a formal warning to violations for which the fixed penalty procedure is excluded, which is exactly why a genuinely minor, Bussenliste eligible incident on its own rarely also produces a licence consequence. But that everyday pattern is not a legal guarantee, and a reader should not treat paying a CHF 40 fine as proof that nothing further can happen on the same driving record.

Whether a separate administrative measure also follows depends on the driver's own history and on how the underlying conduct is classified under the leicht, mittelschwer and schwer tiers explained in full on our licence withdrawal page, not on whether a fixed penalty happened to be available for the specific violation just paid. The two systems run independently once a violation is serious enough to leave the Bussenliste, and a reader dealing with a borderline incident should check both rather than assuming either result follows automatically from the other.

The OBG reaches further than traffic law alone

The Ordnungsbussengesetz is often thought of as a traffic statute because traffic violations make up the bulk of what it covers, but its own list of governed statutes is broader. It also reaches minor violations under laws covering foreign nationals, asylum, unfair competition, nature and heritage protection, weapons, alcohol, narcotics, environmental protection, food safety, and several others.

A reader searching bussen or ordnungsbusse in a non traffic context should be aware the same fixed penalty mechanism, the CHF 300 ceiling, and the same payment and Bedenkfrist rules described above apply there too, even though this page focuses on the traffic side.

What this page does not tell you

This page describes the structure of the fixed penalty system and a handful of confirmed sample amounts. It does not, and cannot, state the exact fine for every possible violation, since Anhang 1 and Anhang 2 are long and reviewed on their own schedule.

A driver who has actually received a fine notice should read the amount and the cited provision on that notice itself, rather than relying on the illustrative figures above, and should treat a notice raising a licence question separately from the fine as a distinct matter needing its own attention.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an Ordnungsbusse in Switzerland?

An Ordnungsbusse is a fixed penalty fine that a driver can pay for a bounded list of minor traffic violations set out in the OBV's own Bussenliste, without going through an ordinary criminal procedure. It cannot exceed CHF 300 under Art. 1 Abs. 4 OBG.

How much can a Swiss fixed penalty traffic fine actually cost?

The OBG sets a statutory ceiling of CHF 300 for any fixed penalty under Art. 1 Abs. 4. The actual amount for a given violation is set in the OBV's Anhang 1 or Anhang 2, and low end examples include CHF 40 for a small speeding excess in town.

Does paying an Ordnungsbusse give me a criminal record in Switzerland?

Paying keeps the matter inside the fixed penalty procedure rather than opening it as an ordinary criminal case, so it does not produce a Strafbefehl or a court judgment. This follows from the mechanism in Art. 6 and Art. 11 OBG rather than from a single sentence stating it directly.

What happens if I do not pay a Swiss traffic fine within the deadline?

Art. 6 Abs. 4 OBG states that failing to pay within the 30 day Bedenkfrist triggers an ordinary criminal procedure for the same violation, rather than simply increasing the fixed penalty amount.

Is the Swiss fine schedule for speeding and other violations fixed permanently?

No. The OBV's Anhang 1 and Anhang 2 are revised periodically, and the version behind this page reflects a change that took effect 1 July 2026. Any specific amount should be reconfirmed against the current annex rather than assumed to be permanent.

Can every traffic violation in Switzerland be resolved with a fixed penalty?

No. Only violations listed in the OBV's Bussenliste qualify. A violation serious enough to reach Art. 90 Abs. 2, 3 or 4 SVG is never eligible for the fixed penalty procedure and is handled as an ordinary criminal case instead.

If I pay a fixed penalty fine, can my driving licence still be affected?

The fixed penalty procedure and the separate licence withdrawal procedure under Art. 16 SVG are structurally different systems. Paying a fine settles the fixed penalty matter itself, but it does not categorically rule out a separate administrative consequence tied to the same driving record.

Does the Ordnungsbussengesetz only cover traffic violations?

No. The OBG's own list of governed statutes is broader than the SVG, and also reaches minor violations under laws covering foreign nationals, narcotics, environmental protection, hunting and fishing, among others.