No Refueling, No Bathroom Break: Russians "Fined" for Slow Travel on Moscow-St. Petersburg Toll Road

On the M-11 "Neva" highway connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg, there is an unwritten rule: if a driver lingers in the restroom at a gas station or cafe and does not leave the toll road section within one hour, they must pay a "fine." The penalty amounts to over 5,000 rubles, while the cost of traveling on the toll section is usually around 400-500 rubles.

Alexander Shumsky, head of the "Probok.net" expert center, reported on the fines on the M-11 "Neva" toll highway connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg. A subscriber to his Telegram channel contacted him. The man was driving a commercial vehicle belonging to a logistics company.

The state company "Avtodor" issued an invoice for traveling on one of the toll road sections in the amount of 5184 rubles, which is 12 times the standard cost of 420 rubles.

The driver was unable to dispute the "fine." The operator's technical support service explained to him that if the time spent on the section exceeds one hour, regardless of the reason, a fee is charged at the maximum rate.

The reason for the delay was a common need. Together with refueling and visiting the restroom, the entire journey took him 1 hour and 25 minutes.

The head of the "Probok.net" expert center stated that drivers repeatedly encounter similar invoices with the maximum tariff.

Formally, this is not a fine, but payment of the full tariff for a large section of the highway, as far as I understand. But in fact, of course, it is a fine. There are different sections - some of them need to be driven in 1.5 hours, some in two, but on the Tver bypass, from the 147th to the 177th kilometer, you need to complete it in an hour.

Alexander Shumsky, head of the "Probok.net" expert center

He explained that time limits only apply to the M-11, which is managed by "Avtodor." On other highways, such as the M-4 and M-12, no time limits are set.

The funny thing is that there is a hotel on the toll section I'm talking about. And if you stay in it, it will clearly be more than an hour.

Alexander Shumsky, head of the "Probok.net" expert center

Interestingly, the rules for traveling on the M-11 "Neva" highway, posted on the "Avtodor" website, differ from similar rules approved by OOO "OSSP," which is authorized by the state company to collect tolls.

According to "Avtodor" rules, the maximum time that can be spent traveling on 20 toll sections of the highway is two hours. And for OOO "OSSP," this time is limited to one hour.

It is clear that no one reads the full version of the offer. This is a simple everyday situation - driving on a toll road. The situation is very strange, I feel negative about it. They issue the tariff automatically, and the driver goes to appeal it. But it may not be possible to appeal.

Alexander Shumsky, head of the "Probok.net" expert center

Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of the magazine "Za Rulem," believes that there is no need for time limits. Drivers who use toll roads do not want to spend a lot of time there anyway. They only stop for objective reasons: to rest or repair the car.

Multifunctional centers on toll roads, which are much talked about, are designed so that a person who needs refueling, rest and repair can put themselves and the car in order. I can only explain this in one way - they don't want truckers to occupy these zones and organize their overnight stays there.

Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of the magazine "Za Rulem"

According to Anton Shaparina, who holds the position of vice president of the "National Automobile Union," limiting the time spent on the M-11 section to one hour is unacceptable. This is due to the fact that queues form at gas stations, as well as the need for rest, especially when traveling with children.

Earlier, the government conducted an experiment in which electric vehicle owners can travel for free on federal toll roads. However, from January 10, 2025, this "benefit" will be extendedonly to domestic electric vehicles.

In addition, it is proposed to increase fines for non-payment of travel on toll roads: for cars - from 1.5 thousand rubles to 10 thousand, for trucks - from 5 thousand to 30 thousand, as well as to cancel the 50% discount when paying the fine within 20 days.