Licence points deductions in Italy: when and how many
Pick two or three offences recorded at the same time: the calculator adds up the table’s points, applies the 15-point cap where it counts, doubles them for new drivers and shows your balance.
Points are not taken off an Italian licence on the day of the fine but once the offence is settled (the law says «definita»): when the fine is paid, when any appeal ends, or when the appeal deadlines pass. From then the police body has thirty days to report it to the national register of licence holders, and the new balance appears on the Portale dell’automobilista, the licensing authority’s website. The number of points comes from the table of article 126-bis of the Highway Code and must be printed on the fine: 3 for speeding by 10 to 40 km/h, 6 for a red light, 5 for a seat belt, 10 for drink-driving. When several offences are found at the same time, at most 15 points come off, but the cap does not apply if one of them carries a licence suspension or revocation, such as a phone in hand or alcohol. In the first three years of a licence every figure doubles. If nobody was stopped, the car’s owner must name the driver within sixty days of being served.
Points after the deduction
6
14 points taken off 20
| Art. 142 c. 8 · Speed limits (3) | 3 |
| Art. 173 c. 3-bis, primo periodo · Glasses, phones and headphones while driving (5) | 5 |
| Art. 146 c. 3 · Road signs and traffic lights (6) | 6 |
| Total deducted | 14 |
| Back to 20 points with no new offence | from 23 October 2028 |
| With a recovery course | 12 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; with a suspension the 15-point cap does not apply.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
When points actually come off
Paragraph 2 of article 126-bis ties the deduction to the offence being «definita», settled. That happens in three ways: the fine is paid, the appeals to the prefetto (the government’s representative in each province) or to the giudice di pace (the local magistrate) are over, or the deadlines to appeal pass without one. The police body then has thirty days, from learning of the payment or the outcome, to report the offence to the national register of licence holders. Only then does the balance change and show on the Portale dell’automobilista.
Two things follow. First, weeks or even months usually pass between the fine and the drop in points, so today’s balance may not include a fine you have already paid. Second, an appeal also holds up the deduction, which only happens if the appeal fails; how appeals work is covered on the appeals page. For criminal offences, such as driving with more than 0.8 g/l of alcohol, paragraph 6-bis starts the process from the final judgment: the court registry sends it within fifteen days to the body that recorded the offence.
Who loses the points: driver and owner
Points come off the licence of the driver responsible. When an offence is recorded without stopping the car, by a speed camera for example, the fine goes to the registered owner, who must give the police the driver’s personal and licence details within sixty days of service. For company cars, the legal representative or a delegate does it. An owner who fails to do so without a justified and documented reason faces a separate fine under the same paragraph 2, but does not take the driver’s points. Either way, the fine must state the points the offence carries (paragraph 1).
Several offences at once: the 15-point cap
Paragraph 1-bis caps the loss at 15 points when several offences are found at the same time, that is in the same stop. The cap does not apply if one of them carries a suspension or revocation of the licence: then all the points add up. Five cases worked out with the current table:
| Offences found together | Sum | Points taken | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red light, seat belt, speeding by 10 to 40 km/h | 14 | 14 | below the cap |
| Reversing on a motorway, seat belt, red light | 21 | 15 | cap applied |
| Alcohol 0.5 to 0.8 g/l, seat belt, red light | 21 | 21 | alcohol means suspension: no cap |
| Phone in hand, seat belt, red light | 16 | 16 | phone means suspension: no cap |
| New driver: red light and seat belt | 22 | 15 | double points, then the cap |
The third and fourth rows show the trap: a single offence carrying a suspension, such as a phone in hand while driving, removes the cap and every other offence counts in full. The cap only covers offences found at the same moment; two fines on different days are two separate deductions.
Several offences at the same time
Total points taken
15
| Sum | 18 |
| 15-point cap | applied |
New drivers: double points
The final note of the points table doubles the points for each offence committed in the first 3 years, for licences issued after 1 October 2003 to people who did not already hold a category B licence or higher. The doubling works row by row: 5 points for a phone become 10, 10 for drink-driving become 20. Starting from 20, two serious offences in the early years can empty a licence. Article 186-bis adds a rule of its own for new drivers: any alcohol above zero is an offence, worth 5 points in the table (10 once doubled).
The most common deductions
The full table has 97 rows; these are the ones most often seen on an Italian fine. The new-driver column applies the doubling to a single offence.
| Offence | Rule | Points | New driver |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speeding: over 10 and up to 40 km/h | art. 142, para. 8 | 3 | 6 |
| Speeding: over 40 and up to 60 km/h | art. 142, para. 9 | 6 | 12 |
| Speeding: over 60 km/h | art. 142, para. 9-bis | 10 | 20 |
| Running a red light | art. 146, para. 3 | 6 | 12 |
| Ignoring a sign (except no-parking and no-stopping signs) | art. 146, para. 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Safe distance | art. 149, para. 4 | 3 | 6 |
| Seat belt or child seat not used | art. 172, paras. 10 and 11 | 5 | 10 |
| Phone in hand while driving | art. 173, para. 3-bis, first sentence | 5 | 10 |
| Phone, repeat offence within two years | art. 173, para. 3-bis, second sentence | 10 | 20 |
| Parking at a bus stop or in a bus lane | art. 158, para. 2, letters d) and h) | 2 | 4 |
| Parking in a disabled bay | art. 158, para. 2, letter g) | 4 | 8 |
| Drink-driving or refusing the test | art. 186, paras. 2 and 7 | 10 | 20 |
| Any alcohol for under-21s, new and professional drivers | art. 186-bis, para. 2 | 5 | 10 |
| Driving after taking drugs | art. 187, paras. 1 and 8 | 10 | 20 |
| Giving way to pedestrians at crossings | art. 191, para. 1 | 8 | 16 |
| Driving without insurance | art. 193, para. 2 | 5 | 10 |
The other rows cover overtaking, right of way, loads, professional drivers’ hours, conduct after an accident and police checks: they are all in the full points table. The figures were read on Normattiva on 24 October 2026 and are in force in 2026.
Amount and points for an offence
Within 60 days
€250
| Minimum and maximum | €250 – €1,000 |
| Points | 5 points |
| Suspension | 15 to 60 days |
Three offences in a year: re-examination with points left
The deduction is not the only effect to watch. Paragraph 6 orders a re-examination of the licence for a driver who, after being served a first offence worth at least five points, commits two more of at least five points each, at different times, within twelve months of the first. Phone, seat belt and red light are all worth five points or more: three separate episodes in one year mean sitting the tests again even with points left. The licence points page explains how to win points back and what happens at zero.