The Administrative Court in Zagreb has confirmed that not collecting mail does not shield you from legal consequences. Accumulating 12 negative points within two years results in a permanent revocation of your license, and the driver must return to driving school.
The belief that ignoring court or police letters will make the penalty disappear can lead to serious problems, including the permanent loss of your driver's license. The process continues regardless of whether the driver physically read the document, and the consequences can culminate in having to retake the driving test, warns the Croatian Automobile Club (HAK).
A case from the Administrative Court in Zagreb, decided on March 22, 2023, under case number UsI-3827/21-8, is illustrative. The driver appealed against a decision by the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) that permanently revoked his driver's license because he accumulated 13 negative penalty points between March 10 and October 7, 2021. His main argument was that he never received one of the penalty notices, which, he claimed, prevented him from exercising his right to defense.
The court did not accept this argument. During the proceedings, it was established that the postman attempted to deliver the notice twice, in July and August 2021, without success. After the document was not collected, it was published on the court's e-Bulletin Board. Once the legal deadline expired, it was considered duly served, the decision became final, and the points were recorded.
The Misdemeanor Act provides for exactly this mechanism for situations where standard delivery is not possible, for example, due to non-collection of the shipment or an unreported change of address. After the document is published on the e-Bulletin Board, it is considered delivered after eight days. On the ninth day, all effects of proper delivery take effect, regardless of whether the recipient actually saw the content.
The situation becomes critical when a driver accumulates 12 negative penalty points within two years. At that point, the license is not suspended for a specific period; it is revoked. The consequences are far more severe than a temporary driving ban: a two-year period without the right to drive follows, and after that, the driver must complete an entire driving school course and pass the driving test again.
This is exactly the outcome that can be triggered by simply ignoring correspondence. It is not crucial whether someone deliberately refused to accept the mail or simply overlooked the notice. If the legal conditions for delivery are met, the procedure moves forward.
Digitalization has introduced new communication channels. Police administrations can now send notices about violations, including fines and procedural costs, directly to the user's inbox in the e-Citizens system. By opening the document in the inbox, delivery is formalized. If the recipient then pays the fine, they confirm both delivery and responsibility for the violation, making the decision final and enforceable.
Payment within 20 days of the document being sent to the user's inbox results in automatic updating of the violation records. However, ignoring the digital message does not mean the case will be forgotten. If the required amount is not paid on time, the file is automatically forwarded to the Central Printing Office for Misdemeanor Proceedings. There, the document is printed and sent by regular mail to the offender's physical address.
Therefore, the logic of "if I didn't open it, I didn't receive it" does not work in reality. The system is designed so that the process can be completed even without the recipient's cooperation.
The most effective prevention is to regularly check your user inbox on the e-Citizens platform. Users can also activate notifications via email or SMS to learn about incoming documents in time. Choosing your preferred channels for receiving alerts is done in the inbox settings.
Timely information allows the driver to react within the set deadlines, file an objection if there are grounds, or pay the fine under more favorable conditions. Ignoring the postman, the digital inbox, or the e-Bulletin Board is no longer an effective strategy. The misdemeanor procedure can be concluded even without the driver's active participation, and the consequences can pile up until the decision to revoke the driver's license arrives.
