Amsterdam Targets Foreign Drivers in Crackdown on Unpaid Parking Fees
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Amsterdam will begin immobilizing vehicles from countries where parking fines cannot be recovered by mail starting next July, city officials announced Thursday, positioning the move as a corrective measure to long-standing compliance gaps.
Currently, drivers from nations without reciprocal data-sharing arrangements receive paper tickets on their windshields. Only about 24% settle their dues, a rate the city characterizes as unsustainable and inequitable for motorists who follow established procedures.
The Netherlands already exchanges vehicle information with Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Austria, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Since 2024, visitors from these countries have been mailed fines at home if they fail to pay on the spot. Britain is slated to join the system on Jan. 1.
The new clamping strategy focuses on countries lacking such agreements, including France, Poland, Hungary and Luxembourg. Officials plan to deploy three additional clamping teams — bringing the total to five — with capacity for roughly 15,000 clamps per year. About 10,000 of those are expected to target vehicles with foreign plates.
Motorists will be required to settle the parking fee, the fine and clamping costs — estimated at about €250 — before the device is removed.
City transport chief Melanie van der Horst said she would prefer all visitors comply voluntarily but argued the current patchwork of payment outcomes undermines fairness for Dutch drivers and those from countries that share registration data.
