Italian licence points: balance, recovery and zero points
Enter the points you hold today and the offence on your fine: see the balance left, whether a re-examination is triggered, and what a course or two clean years would give back.
Every Italian driving licence starts with 20 points, recorded in the national register of licence holders, and every change to the balance is published on the Portale dell’automobilista, the Italian licensing authority’s website, where the holder can look it up. The offences listed in the table of article 126-bis of the Highway Code each take 1 to 10 points: 3 for speeding by 10 to 40 km/h, 5 for holding a phone, 10 for alcohol above 0.5 g/l. Two years without a points offence bring the balance back to 20; a driver already on 20 earns a 2-point bonus every two years, up to 10 extra. A refresher course at a driving school, ending with a test, gives back 6 points (9 for professional drivers), as long as the balance is not already zero. At zero the licence goes to re-examination: theory and driving tests again. Drivers in their first three years lose double points for every offence.
Points after the deduction
17
3 points taken off 20
| Art. 142 c. 8 · Speed limits (3) | 3 |
| Back to 20 points with no new offence | from 23 October 2028 |
| With a recovery course | 20 points (+6) |
Points come off when the fine becomes final (paid, or appeal rejected). The return to 20 counts two years from the last deduction.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
How the points licence works
The system is set out in article 126-bis of the Italian Highway Code. When a licence is issued it receives 20 points, kept in the national register of licence holders (the anagrafe nazionale degli abilitati alla guida). The balance drops when the register is told of an offence that carries a licence suspension, or of one of the rules of conduct listed in the attached points table. Other offences, however expensive, leave the points alone: parking on a pavement costs money but no points. The fine (the verbale) must state how many points the offence carries, so the figure to check is already printed on it.
Points follow the driver, not the car. When a fine arrives by post and nobody was stopped, the vehicle owner must give the name and licence details of whoever was driving. The page on points deductions explains when the balance is actually updated and why weeks pass between the fine and the drop in points.
Where to see your balance
Paragraph 3 of article 126-bis says every change is communicated through the Portale dell’automobilista, the online service of the Motorizzazione civile, the part of the Italian transport ministry that runs licences and vehicle records. The balance shown there is the register’s: it includes deductions already settled, bonuses earned and courses recorded. A fine served last week is not in it yet. To see what will be left after a new offence, the calculator above starts from the points you hold and takes off the table’s figure, doubled if you are a new driver.
How many points I have left
Points left
15
| Licence re-examination | No |
| With a refresher course (+6) | 21 |
How points come back
There are three routes, all in paragraphs 4 and 5 of article 126-bis, plus one for new drivers.
| Situation | Effect on the balance | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Two years with no points offence, balance below 20 | back to 20 points | art. 126-bis para. 5 |
| Two years with no points offence, balance of 20 or more | +2 points, up to 10 extra | art. 126-bis para. 5 |
| Refresher course ending with a test | +6 points | art. 126-bis para. 4 |
| Specific course for professional drivers | +9 points | art. 126-bis para. 4 |
| New driver: each clean year in the first three | +1 point, up to 3 | table, final note |
| Balance at zero | re-examination: theory and driving tests | art. 126-bis para. 6 |
The return to 20 after two years is automatic and does not add up with a course: a driver on 10 points who stays clean for two years goes back to 20, not 16. A course therefore makes sense when the balance is low and two clean years are far off. It is held at a driving school (autoscuola) or an approved body and ends with a test; only after the test is the certificate sent to the Motorizzazione and the points restored. It is not allowed once the balance has run out.
What happens at zero
When the balance reaches zero, the Motorizzazione orders the re-examination (revisione) of the licence: the holder must pass the article 128 competence test again, theory and driving. Anyone who does not sit it within thirty days of the order has the licence suspended indefinitely, and the police withdraw the document. Zero comes sooner than people expect: on 12 points, a single drive with 0.5 to 0.8 g/l of alcohol in the blood takes 10 and leaves 2.
A re-examination can also come before zero. Paragraph 6 orders it for a driver who, after being served a first offence of at least five points, commits two more at different times within twelve months of the first, each worth at least five points. Three phone-in-hand fines (5 points each) in one year are enough, even with points left.
New drivers: double points and one point a year
The table’s final note covers licences issued after 1 October 2003 to people who did not already hold a category B licence or higher: during the first 3 years every offence costs twice the points. The four most common offences (speeding by 10 to 40 km/h, phone, seat belt, red light) cost a new driver 6, 10, 10 and 12 points instead of 3, 5, 5 and 6. In return, during those same three years, each year without an offence adds one point, up to three. The lower limits of article 117 also apply: 100 km/h on motorways and 90 on main extra-urban roads.
New driver: limit and points
Points taken from a new driver
6 points
| Your limit | 100 km/h |
| Speed held | 112.10 km/h |
| Amount within 60 days | €173 |
Foreign licences and newcomers to Italy
Article 126-bis deals with licences issued in Italy and their balance in the national register. If you drive in Italy on a foreign licence, you pay the same fines and face the same suspensions on Italian roads, and your fine still lists the points for the offence; the article does not, however, describe a points balance for foreign licences. Once you exchange your licence for an Italian one, you join the system like any other holder. For a specific case, the Motorizzazione, which keeps the register, is the office to ask.
The rules on this page are those of article 126-bis and of the points table in force since 12 April 2025, read on Normattiva on 24 October 2026 and in force in 2026. The full points table lists all 97 rows with the points for each rule.