AARTO deadline calculator

An AARTO infringement notice is a clock. From the day it is served you have 32 days to pay at half price, to nominate the driver, to make a representation or to arrange instalments; miss that and a courtesy letter arrives with a fee and another 32 days; miss that and an enforcement order follows with another fee and a block on your licence renewals. This calculator takes the date on the notice and works out every one of those dates, including the one most people get wrong: the date the notice counts as served, which for a posted notice is ten days after posting whether or not it arrived.

It is for drivers in the municipalities where AARTO is in force, which as at October 2026 means Johannesburg, Tshwane and about 60 further municipalities added on 1 July 2026, none of them in the Western Cape, and for fleet operators and proxies managing many notices.

What this calculator works out and who it is for

You enter the date on the infringement notice, how it was sent to you, the date you actually received it if that is different, the fine amount, whether the fine was issued where AARTO is in force, and optionally the date to work from. The calculator returns the date the notice is treated as served, the deadline to pay at the discount or make a representation, the date from which a courtesy letter may issue and its fee, the deadline to respond to the courtesy letter, the date from which an enforcement order may issue and its fee, and the total if it runs all the way. It tells you which window you are in today and what is still open.

How the calculation works

The calculator first fixes the service date. For a posted notice, section 30(2) of the Act, as amended, deems service on the tenth day after posting, so it adds ten days to the notice date; if you enter the date you actually received it, that overrides the presumption. For a notice handed to you, the service date is the notice date. For a notice served electronically the calculator also adds ten days, because the amended section 30 appears to give electronic service the same ten-day presumption as post. If you want the most cautious date, enter the day the email or message reached you as the date you received it.

It adds 32 days to get the first deadline, by which payment at the 50 per cent discount, a nomination of the driver, a representation or an instalment arrangement must be made. The day after that, a courtesy letter may issue, with a fee of R100 and the discount gone; courtesy letters go by ordinary mail or electronically, so service of the courtesy letter is again presumed ten days later, and 32 days from that is the second deadline, by which payment in full, an instalment arrangement or a representation must be made. The day after that, an enforcement order may issue, with a further R100 and a block on your transactions on the national traffic information system until the fine and fees are paid or the order is revoked.

If you enter the fine, the calculator shows the discounted figure and the total if the matter runs to an enforcement order.

The law behind the numbers

The Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act 46 of 1998 replaces the criminal process for most traffic infringements with an administrative one in the areas where it has been brought into force by proclamation. Under section 17 an infringement notice is served on the infringer and must inform them of the options: to pay the penalty at a discount of 50 per cent within 32 days of service; to arrange to pay in instalments; to make a representation to the Road Traffic Infringement Authority; or to nominate the driver where the owner was not driving, on form AARTO 07, a signed declaration that no longer needs a commissioner of oaths. Nomination closes once a courtesy letter is issued. The AARTO Amendment Act 4 of 2019, which came into force in all AARTO areas on 1 July 2026 under Proclamations 322 and 323 of 2026, repealed section 22, so there is no longer an option to choose a court trial instead. A refused representation can be taken to the AARTO Appeals Tribunal within 30 days, on an appeal fee of R200, and the Tribunal's decision to a magistrates' court within a further 30 days. The same Act repealed section 21, the warrant of execution. Section 19 provides that if the infringer does none of those within the period, the Authority issues a courtesy letter, which under the regulations adds a fee and gives a further 32 days to pay in full, arrange instalments or make a representation. Section 20 provides that if the infringer again does nothing, the Authority issues an enforcement order, which adds a further fee, records the demerit points once those provisions are in force, and bars the infringer from obtaining or renewing a driving licence, a professional driving permit or a licence disc until the amounts are paid or the order is revoked on application. The fees under Schedule 2 to the AARTO Regulations, 2026 are R100 for the courtesy letter and R100 for the enforcement order, and lodging a representation costs nothing, but a R100 representations fee is added if it is refused (Schedule 2, paragraph 5.10). The Regulations do not describe the discount as restored automatically when a representation is refused, so check the outcome notice for what you must pay and by when.

Section 30 governs service. As amended with effect from 1 July 2026 in AARTO areas, a document may be served personally, by post or electronically. A posted document is presumed served on the tenth day after posting, unless the contrary is shown, and the section appears to apply the same ten-day presumption to electronic service. The AARTO Regulations, 2026, published on 30 June 2026 and in force from 1 July 2026 in place of the 2008 regulations, send infringement notices and courtesy letters by ordinary mail or electronic service, and enforcement orders by registered mail. Electronic service goes only to an electronic address the infringer has given and confirmed.

Two things about the system's status matter. AARTO applies only where proclaimed: as at October 2026, phase two brought it into force from 1 July 2026 in about 60 further municipalities, 62 with Johannesburg and Tshwane, including the metros other than Cape Town, under Proclamations 322 and 323 of 2026. No Western Cape municipality is in that phase; the province is to be included in a later phase, for which no date has been gazetted; the guide to which fine system applies where you live and the traffic fine checker deal with that. And the demerit point provisions in sections 24 to 28 have not been brought into operation; the 1 July 2026 proclamations excluded them, no start date has been proclaimed, and reported dates have moved before. The guide to AARTO, the representation guide and the enforcement order guide cover each stage.

Worked example

Sipho receives an AARTO infringement notice dated 1 October 2026 for R1 000, sent by post, in Ekurhuleni, where AARTO is in force. He is checking on 15 October.

The notice is presumed served on 11 October 2026, ten days after posting. The 32 days run to 12 November 2026: by then he may pay R500, nominate the driver if someone else was driving, make a representation, or arrange instalments. A courtesy letter may issue from 13 November with a R100 fee, presumed served on 23 November, and the second 32 days run to 25 December; by then he must pay R1 100 in full, arrange instalments or make a representation. From 26 December an enforcement order may issue with a further R100, taking the total to R1 200 and blocking his licence disc renewal. On 15 October he is in the first window with four weeks to go, and the calculator's warning says so: pay R500 now, or lodge the representation, which costs nothing to lodge. If it is refused a R100 fee is added and he may appeal to the Appeals Tribunal within 30 days, and the outcome notice tells him what he must pay and by when.

Had Sipho been handed the notice at the roadside on 1 October, service would be that day and the first deadline 2 November. Had the fine been issued in Cape Town, the calculator would warn that AARTO does not apply there and the Criminal Procedure Act process runs instead.

What the calculator does not include

It does not know whether your municipality is in an AARTO area; the traffic fine checker does.

It does not assess the merits of a representation, which succeed where the notice is defective, the vehicle was sold, the driver can be nominated, or there was a genuine reason; the representation guide covers the grounds.

It does not model the revocation of an enforcement order, which is an application to the Road Traffic Infringement Authority on the prescribed form and succeeds where the notice or courtesy letter was not properly served.

It does not deal with demerit points, which are not yet in force, or with the instalment arrangement terms, which the Authority sets.

It does not model a notice that was never received at all. The presumption of service is rebuttable, and an infringer who can show the notice was never delivered can have the subsequent steps set aside, but the burden is on them.

When to get advice

For a single notice you intend to pay, pay within the 32 days and keep the receipt. For a notice you dispute, lodge the representation yourself within the window on the prescribed form; it costs nothing to lodge, a R100 fee is added only if it is refused, and no lawyer is needed. Get advice if an enforcement order has been issued on a notice you never received, because the revocation application turns on proof of non-service; if you are a fleet operator or proxy with many notices and the nomination process is going wrong; if the infringement is one of the serious offences excluded from AARTO and you have been summonsed to court; or if you believe the notice itself is invalid because of a defect in the camera, the signage or the officer's authority. The guide to disputing a traffic fine deals with the grounds.

Frequently asked questions

How long do I have to pay an AARTO fine at the discount? 32 days from the date the notice is served, which for a posted notice is presumed to be ten days after posting. Payment within that period is at 50 per cent.

When does an AARTO notice count as served? For a posted notice, on the tenth day after posting, unless you can show otherwise. Electronic service appears to carry the same ten-day presumption under the amended section 30, and the calculator applies it. For a notice handed to you, that day.

What is a courtesy letter? The reminder the Road Traffic Infringement Authority sends if you do nothing within the first 32 days. It adds a R100 fee, removes the discount, and gives a further 32 days to pay in full, arrange instalments or make a representation.

What does an enforcement order do? It adds a further R100 and blocks your driving licence, professional driving permit and licence disc transactions on NaTIS until the fine and fees are paid or the order is revoked. Once demerit points are in force it will also record them.

Can I still make a representation after the first 32 days? Yes, after the courtesy letter and within its 32 days. After an enforcement order, the route is an application to revoke the order.

Are demerit points in force? No, as at October 2026. Sections 24 to 28 have not been brought into operation, and no start date has been proclaimed.

Does AARTO apply where I live? As at October 2026, in 62 municipalities including the metros other than Cape Town: Johannesburg and Tshwane since 2008, and about 60 more since 1 July 2026. The Western Cape is outside it for now. The traffic fine checker on this site tells you which system applies to your fine.