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Environmental badge and fines

from
Dr. jur. Ingo E. Fromm
Lawyer
Specialist in criminal law
Specialist in traffic law

Give me a call: 0261 - 404 99 25
E-Mail:

Drivers are obliged to obtain an environmental sticker (also known as a fine dust sticker) for the numerous environmental zones in Germany and to affix it in a clearly visible position on the inside of the lower right-hand windshield, otherwise a fine of €100 is imposed according to No. 153 BKat: "Participated in traffic with a motor vehicle despite a traffic ban to reduce harmful air pollution (signs 270.1, 270.2)." There are no points in the driving aptitude register in Flensburg for this.

The environmental badge can be obtained from the vehicle registration authorities or online for a price of about 10.00 euros. Depending on the pollutant class of a vehicle, you will receive a red, yellow or green badge.

Environmental badge for e-vehicles

A fine dust sticker is also mandatory for e-cars. One road user was surprised to receive a fine for violating No. 153 BKat because he was the owner of a new, purely electric vehicle. He had forgotten to affix the green sticker to his new electric vehicle in the environmental zone of a city in the state of Hesse. The violation was noticed because of a parking violation. Although electric vehicles produce no emissions when in motion, the legislature has not yet formulated any exceptions for them. Therefore, an "E" in the license plate is not enough.

Questionable legal situation

As a layman, you might think that this is sufficient to indicate that no pollutants are emitted. The E-label grants special privileges to drivers of electric cars in some cities, but the requirement for an environmental badge remains. However, hybrid vehicles that still have a combustion engine also have an "E" in their license plate. The current legal situation seems more than questionable when you consider that, for example, two- and three-wheeled motor vehicles, i.e. motorcycles and vintage cars (usually with internal combustion engines), are exempt from the labeling requirement (35th Ordinance for the Implementation of the Federal Immission Control Act (Ordinance on the Labeling of Motor Vehicles with a Low Contribution to Pollutant Emission - 35.Durchführung des Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetzes (Verordnung zur Kennzeichnung der Kraftfahrzeuge mit geringem Beitrag zur Schadstoffbelastung - 35. BImSchV), Anhang 3 Ausnahmen von der Kennzeichnungspflicht nach § 2 Abs. 1 (zu § 2 Abs. 3)), Elektrofahrzeuge jedoch nicht.

The statements represent initial information that was current for the law applicable in Germany at the time of initial publication. The legal situation may have changed since then. Furthermore, the information provided cannot replace individual advice on a specific matter. Please contact us for this purpose.