From the AARTO 03 notice in your post box to the demerit system that can suspend your licence, this is the complete, plain-English guide written for everyday motorists. No legal jargon, no fluff. Just clarity, current rollout dates, and the exact steps to take when an infringement lands on your name.
In partnership with — South Africa's traffic compliance platform.
This guide is produced in partnership with Trafico, a South African traffic compliance platform that helps drivers and fleets manage fines, track demerit points and stay AARTO-ready, all in one connected dashboard. When the demerit system goes live, knowing the rules is only half the job; the other half is staying on top of every notice before the 32-day clock runs out.
Manage and pay fines online, receive automated AARTO alerts, monitor your demerit points and act early to help prevent licence suspension.
Track demerits per driver, centralise fine management, protect your company proxy and keep compliance visible across every registered vehicle.
AARTO stands for the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act, a 1998 South African statute that pulls most everyday traffic violations out of the criminal courts and processes them as administrative infringements instead. After more than two decades operating only in Johannesburg and Tshwane as a pilot, AARTO is scheduled to roll out nationally in phases from mid-2026 into 2027, and it will fundamentally change how every South African driver receives, disputes and pays a traffic fine.
Under the old Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) system, a traffic ticket was treated as a criminal charge. You were expected to appear in court, and a guilty finding produced a criminal record. AARTO replaces that for the vast majority of road offences, speeding, skipping a stop sign, not wearing a seatbelt, parking infringements, defective lights, and so on, with a streamlined administrative process run by the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA). Major crimes such as drunk driving, reckless driving causing injury and driving without a licence remain in the criminal courts.
The headline change AARTO introduces is the demerit point system. Every infringement now carries not just a Rand penalty but a points value too. Accumulate enough points and your licence is suspended. Keep collecting points after that and it can be permanently cancelled. South Africa is far from alone here, variants of the demerit system have operated for decades in the UK, Australia, Germany and most of the EU.
Most traffic offences are now infringements, not crimes. No court date by default, no criminal record on payment, but also fewer of the procedural protections you'd get in a criminal trial.
The Road Traffic Infringement Agency adjudicates AARTO matters, issuing notices, evaluating representations, granting court elections and managing the demerit register.
Demerit points and unresolved infringements attach to your driving licence on eNaTIS. They can block licence and vehicle disc renewals if you let them age into an Enforcement Order.
After repeated delays and a Constitutional Court challenge that ultimately upheld the Act, the national rollout is now scheduled to begin in the second half of 2026. As of June 2026, AARTO is still only operational in Johannesburg and Tshwane. For most motorists outside those two metros, AARTO starts to apply at one of the three rollout milestones below.
AARTO commences in Tshwane (1 July 2008) and Johannesburg (1 November 2008) and has run there ever since as a long-standing pilot.
Targeted go-live (still subject to ministerial confirmation). AARTO becomes operational in 69 metros and municipalities beyond Gauteng.
A further 144 issuing authorities planned to go live, taking total coverage close to the full national network.
Target date for every one of the 213 municipal issuing authorities to be operating under AARTO. The full demerit system is unlikely to be fully active before 2027/28.
Every AARTO matter moves through the same five stages. Knowing where your fine sits in the lifecycle tells you exactly what your options are, and how much time you have to act before the next stage closes those options down.
The AARTO 03 is served by registered post. You have 32 days from delivery to act.
If you don't act, an AARTO 12 Courtesy Letter is issued. The 50% discount falls away and an additional fee (currently R60) is added.
Still no response? An AARTO 13 Enforcement Order blocks licence, PrDP and vehicle disc renewals until resolved.
You can still apply on form AARTO 14 to revoke the Enforcement Order, but only on narrow grounds and within 32 days.
The final stage: a Warrant of Execution authorises a sheriff to attach property or wages to recover the outstanding amount.
The further down the chain you go, the fewer your options and the higher the cost. Most motorists get into trouble at stage 2 or 3 simply because the original AARTO 03 was misplaced, left at an old address, or never reached them. AARTO assumes service the moment the notice is deemed delivered, which is why keeping your contact and address details current on eNaTIS matters more than ever.
AARTO is paperwork-heavy. The form code in the top corner of every notice tells you exactly what stage you're at and which response form you need to send back. Here's a plain-English reference to the forms you're most likely to encounter as a motorist.
The original notice telling you a traffic infringement has been recorded against you. Lists the offence, penalty, points and your elective options. The 32-day clock starts here.
Application to pay your outstanding penalty in monthly instalments. Subject to RTIA approval and a written instalment agreement.
The form you submit if the registered owner of the vehicle was not the actual driver at the time of the infringement. Transfers liability to the named driver.
The "I want to dispute this" form. Filed with the Representations Officer at the RTIA with evidence, witness statements or legal grounds for cancellation or reduction.
Your formal election to have an independent magistrate hear the matter as a criminal charge, with the full presumption of innocence intact. Available under the current AARTO Act in Johannesburg and Tshwane.
The reminder you receive after ignoring the AARTO 03. Adds an additional fee (currently R60) and removes the 50% early-payment discount. You still have 32 days to act, but you can no longer nominate the driver at this stage.
The serious one. Once issued, your driving licence, PrDP and vehicle licence disc cannot be renewed until you either pay, instalment-arrange, or successfully revoke. An additional R60 fee applies.
Application to set aside an Enforcement Order on specified grounds, typically that the original notice was never validly served, or you had no chance to elect.
Every infringement under AARTO carries demerit points in addition to the Rand penalty. Points stay on your record for three years, but they reduce by one point for every three-month period in which you commit no further infringements. Hit the limit and your licence is suspended. Hit it three times and the licence is cancelled altogether.
A full driving licence holder can carry up to 15 points before any consequence kicks in. Every point above 15 suspends the licence for three months.
Full licence holders are suspended for three months for every point above 15. Three full suspensions and your licence is cancelled, you'll need to re-test, learner first, then driver's.
If you're driving on a learner's permit, the threshold drops to just 6 points. The point thresholds also apply to professional drivers (PrDP) and operator cards on a separate ledger.
Every three months without a new infringement removes one demerit point from your record. A clean year wipes four points. Stay clean for three years and your slate is fully reset.
Each infringement is allocated between 1 and 6 demerit points based on severity. Minor parking issues sit at 0–1 points; reckless behaviour and serious speeding sit at 4–6.
Schedule 3 of the AARTO Act lists every infringement, its penalty value and the demerit points attached. The table below is a working sample, the official schedule is updated by government gazette and currently runs to more than 2,400 line items. These are the offences ordinary motorists encounter most often.
| Infringement | Code | Penalty | Demerit Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exceeding general speed limit by 11–15 km/h | 3601 | R 250 | 0 |
| Exceeding general speed limit by 16–20 km/h | 3602 | R 500 | 1 |
| Exceeding general speed limit by 21–25 km/h | 3603 | R 750 | 2 |
| Exceeding general speed limit by 26–30 km/h | 3604 | R 1,000 | 3 |
| Exceeding general speed limit by 31–35 km/h | 3605 | R 1,250 | 4 |
| Exceeding general speed limit by 40+ km/h (criminal, court only) | - | Court | 6 |
| Using a hand-held mobile phone while driving | 5141 | R 500 | 1 |
| Driver not wearing a seatbelt | 5141 | R 250 | 0 |
| Passenger under 14 not in a child restraint | 4144 | R 500 | 1 |
| Failure to stop at a stop sign | 4233 | R 500 | 1 |
| Failing to stop at a red traffic signal | 4218 | R 750 | 2 |
| Reckless driving (criminal offence) | - | Court | 6 |
| Driving an unlicensed vehicle (expired disc) | 3201 | R 500 | 1 |
| Vehicle without a valid roadworthy certificate | 4131 | R 1,000 | 3 |
| Driving without a valid driver's licence | 3101 | R 1,250 | 4 |
Penalty values shown are indicative of the published Schedule 3 and are revised by government gazette. Always confirm the live penalty on your specific AARTO 03 notice, the legal penalty is the one printed on the notice itself. The most serious speed-related offences are not infringements at all; they remain criminal offences prosecuted under the Criminal Procedure Act in a magistrate's court.
Every AARTO 03 notice carries a charge code that maps to a specific statutory reference, a demerit-point value and a penalty amount. Below is the complete schedule of charge codes, search by code or by the wording of the alleged infringement to find exactly what a notice refers to.
"I" marks an infringement (handled administratively under AARTO); "O" marks an offence still prosecuted criminally. "NAP" means no admission-of-guilt penalty applies, those matters proceed differently. Natural points apply to individual drivers; juristic points apply to registered companies (proxies).
Loading charge codes…
| Code | Statutory Ref | Charge Wording | I/O | Points (Natural) | Points (Juristic) | Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loading charge codes… | ||||||
Penalty amounts (in Rand) reflect the published Schedule 3 and are revised by government gazette. The legally binding figure is always the one printed on your specific AARTO 03 notice.
AARTO infringement notices are issued against the registered owner of the vehicle on eNaTIS, not the person at the wheel. If someone else was driving, your spouse, a family member, a colleague, a customer collecting a courtesy car, you have to formally nominate them, or the points land on your licence.
The window to nominate is the same 32-day elective period that applies to all AARTO 03 responses. Miss it and the infringement is locked to you as registered owner, including all the demerit points.
Include the driver's full names, ID number, residential address, driver's licence number and contact details. Attach a signed acknowledgement from the driver if possible, the RTIA can refuse incomplete nominations.
Lodge the AARTO 07 with the RTIA online portal, by registered post or in person at an issuing authority. Keep your reference number, you'll need it if there's any later dispute about whether the nomination was received.
Once accepted, the RTIA issues a fresh AARTO 03 in the named driver's name. Their 32-day clock starts from that date. The penalty and demerit points now belong to them, and your record is cleared of that infringement.
If you believe the infringement is wrong, wrong vehicle, wrong driver, wrong reading, wrong place, or simply that you have a legitimate excuse, you don't just have to pay it. AARTO gives you the right to make a written representation to the Representations Officer at the RTIA, who can uphold, reduce or cancel the infringement entirely.
Representations succeed when they're specific, evidenced and lodged on time. The grounds the Representations Officer is empowered to consider include:
What does not work: "I didn't know the speed limit", "I was running late for an important meeting", or any version of "I disagree with the law." The Representations Officer is bound by what the AARTO Act allows.
One representation per infringement notice. State the grounds in clear, dated, factual paragraphs.
Anything that supports your version of events: photographs, dashcam footage, GPS data, witness statements, medical records, vehicle sale agreements, or calibration certificates.
The Representations Officer cannot consider out-of-time representations except in narrowly defined circumstances. Late representations are typically rejected outright.
You'll receive a written outcome: upheld (infringement cancelled), partially upheld (penalty or points reduced), or rejected (infringement stands and the 32-day window to pay or elect court restarts).
Under the original AARTO Act (still operating in Johannesburg and Tshwane), if your matter is too serious to settle or too principled to concede, you can elect to be tried in court. This pulls the infringement out of the administrative process and turns it back into a criminal prosecution under the Criminal Procedure Act, with all the protections (and consequences) of a full criminal trial.
A court election restores the presumption of innocence: the prosecution must prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, you can subpoena witnesses, cross-examine the evidence and put the state to proof. The trade-off is that a conviction in court results in a criminal record and the original penalty may be increased. For minor infringements with low demerits, most motorists settle. For matters that genuinely threaten your livelihood (PrDP holders, professional drivers, anyone close to the 15-point threshold) a court election can be the right tool.
The most important framing for any motorist: AARTO and the CPA are two different systems running in parallel. AARTO covers infringements (minor and moderate offences). The CPA still covers serious traffic crimes. Here's how they compare across the dimensions that actually matter to you.
For any business operating a vehicle fleet, AARTO is not optional and the stakes are higher than for individual motorists. Every infringement against a company-registered vehicle initially attaches to the business proxy (the responsible person nominated under the operator's BRN). Without disciplined driver nomination, a fleet can accumulate hundreds of points against a single proxy in a year and trigger administrative blocks on vehicle licence renewals across the entire fleet.
Best-practice fleet AARTO management hinges on three pillars. First, capture trip-level driver assignment so every infringement can be traced to a real human driver within 32 days. Second, automate AARTO 07 nominations, manual paper-based processes break down at scale. Third, monitor the demerit ledger of every professional driver under your PrDP duty of care; a driver heading toward suspension is a vehicle off the road and a contract at risk.
Fleet operators also face heightened reputational exposure. Where individual demerits affect only the driver, fleet-level AARTO failures show up in insurance loadings, operator licence reviews and tender-time disclosure schedules. Treat AARTO as a board-level compliance matter, not a back-office admin task.
An AARTO 03 has landed at your address. Here is the exact sequence to follow in the first 32 days. Do these things in order, keep dated copies of everything, and you preserve every option AARTO gives you.
Confirm the date of service, vehicle registration, infringement code, location and penalty. The notice itself sets your 32-day clock and lists the issuing authority. Errors on the face of the notice are themselves grounds for a representation.
If it was you, move to step 3. If it was someone else, prepare an AARTO 07 immediately, don't wait until day 31. Nomination is the single most time-sensitive AARTO action.
Five choices: pay (50% discount), pay in instalments (AARTO 04), nominate the driver (AARTO 07), make a representation (AARTO 08), or elect to be tried in court (AARTO 10, where the original Act still applies). Do not pick "ignore". There is no sixth option that ends well.
Whichever option you pick, your response must reach the RTIA within 32 days of the notice being served. Pay through approved channels, file forms through the RTIA portal or by registered post, and always keep proof.
The single biggest cause of AARTO escalation is service to an outdated address. After dealing with this notice, log into eNaTIS or visit your nearest registering authority and confirm your address and contact details are current.
AARTO Infringements is an independent guide and lookup service built to demystify a system that is, by design, administratively heavy. We do not act for the RTIA. We act for motorists.
Our content is updated against the live government gazette, including the 2026–2027 phased rollout, Schedule 3 changes, and the latest confirmed go-live dates for the demerit system.
We rewrite legalese into language a driver can actually use. Where we use a form code or legal term, we explain it on the same page.
We do not share your details with the RTIA, SAPS or any traffic authority. Our role is to help you understand and exercise your rights under AARTO.
Whether there's an outstanding infringement, a Courtesy Letter, or an Enforcement Order against your name, acting early is what protects you. Understand your options for representation, driver nomination and court election before the elective period lapses.
See your options →AARTO is the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act, a 1998 South African statute that creates an administrative process for handling most everyday traffic infringements outside the criminal courts. It is administered by the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA).
As of June 2026, AARTO is still only active in Johannesburg and Tshwane. The current rollout schedule is 1 July 2026 (Phase 1: 69 metros and municipalities), 1 October 2026 (Phase 2: a further 144 issuing authorities), and 1 January 2027 (Phase 3: all 213 municipal issuing authorities). The national demerit point system is unlikely to be fully active before 2027/28. If you live or drive outside Joburg and Tshwane in June 2026, your traffic fines are still processed under the Criminal Procedure Act for now.
Full driver's licence holders can carry up to 15 points without consequence. Every point above 15 suspends your licence for three months. Three full suspensions and your licence is cancelled, you will need to start over with a learner's permit. Learner drivers have a much lower threshold: just 6 points before suspension.
Yes. This is the single biggest change AARTO introduces. Paying the penalty (even within the 32-day window with the 50% discount) settles the financial side, but the demerit points are still added to your record once the infringement is finalised. The only ways to avoid the points are a successful representation, a successful driver nomination, or (where it remains available) a successful court election.
Complete an AARTO 08 representation form, attach your supporting evidence, and submit it to the Representations Officer at the RTIA within 32 days of the infringement notice. Detail the grounds clearly (wrong driver, wrong vehicle, procedural defect, emergency, duplicate, or faulty calibration) and the Officer will issue a written decision to uphold, reduce or cancel.
It depends on which version of the Act applies. Under the original AARTO Act (still in force in Johannesburg and Tshwane), yes: you can lodge an AARTO 10 election within 32 days of the infringement notice and your matter is prosecuted under the Criminal Procedure Act in a magistrate's court. Under the AARTO Amendment Act being rolled out nationally, the direct court election at notice stage is removed and you must first exhaust the administrative process (representation, then Appeals Tribunal) before approaching an ordinary court.
If you pay the penalty on an AARTO 03 within 32 days of service, you qualify for a 50% reduction on the penalty amount. The discount falls away once a Courtesy Letter (AARTO 12) is issued. Demerit points are not discounted; they remain in full regardless of when you pay.
Ignoring an AARTO 03 starts a predictable escalation. After 32 days you receive an AARTO 12 Courtesy Letter (adds a R60 fee and removes the discount). Another 32 days and an AARTO 13 Enforcement Order is issued, at which point your driving licence, PrDP and vehicle disc renewals are blocked. Ignore that and a Warrant of Execution can be issued, authorising a sheriff to attach property or earnings.
You file an AARTO 07 driver-nomination form within 32 days of receiving the AARTO 03. Include the driver's full name, ID, driver's licence number and address. The RTIA re-issues the infringement against the named driver. If you miss the 32-day window, the points remain on your record as registered owner.
Three years from the date the points were imposed. They also reduce naturally: one point is removed every three months in which no new infringement is recorded against you. A clean year wipes four points; three clean years resets your slate completely.
No. The whole point of AARTO is to keep minor traffic matters out of the criminal courts. Paying an AARTO infringement creates no criminal record. The only ways to acquire a criminal record from a traffic matter are (a) electing court trial and being convicted, or (b) being prosecuted under the Criminal Procedure Act for a serious offence like reckless driving or DUI, which AARTO does not cover.
Yes. File an AARTO 04 Instalment Application within 32 days of the notice. The RTIA may approve a written instalment agreement (typically over three to six months for larger amounts). Default on the instalment agreement and the matter escalates straight to Enforcement Order.
Yes. The Constitutional Court ruled in July 2023 that AARTO and the AARTO Amendment Act are constitutional and valid, overturning an earlier high court finding. The case was brought by the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA). With that challenge resolved, government has set out the phased national rollout dates (currently 1 July 2026, 1 October 2026 and 1 January 2027) although these have slipped from earlier gazetted timelines.
An AARTO infringement notice is served by registered post, by personal service, or handed to you by a traffic officer at the roadside. Service is deemed effective from the date of delivery, so keeping your eNaTIS contact and address details current is essential, the single most common cause of escalation is a notice served to an old address.
Yes. The AARTO demerit ledger applies to every motor vehicle category and every licence type. Professional driving permit (PrDP) holders carry an additional duty of care: heavy or persistent demerits can trigger PrDP review independently of the underlying driver's licence. Operators of public passenger and freight vehicles also accumulate operator-level demerits separate from driver demerits.
All AARTO forms (AARTO 03, 04, 07, 08, 10, 12, 13 and 14 among others) are published by the RTIA and available through the RTIA online portal or any issuing authority. Always use the current gazetted version; older form templates may be rejected on procedural grounds.
If a term on your notice doesn't make sense, it's almost certainly in this list. Bookmark this section, AARTO uses a lot of acronyms.
Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act, the statute that creates the administrative infringement system in South Africa.
Road Traffic Infringement Agency, the state agency that administers AARTO, issues notices and adjudicates representations.
A traffic offence dealt with administratively under AARTO. Distinct from a "crime" or "offence" prosecuted in court under the Criminal Procedure Act.
The traffic authority that records and serves an infringement, typically a metro police department or provincial traffic department.
The Electronic National Administration Traffic Information System, the national database of vehicles, drivers, and now demerit point records.
The Business Registration Number under which a company's vehicles are registered. The "proxy" is the person nominated as responsible for fines against the BRN.
Professional Driving Permit, additional qualification needed to drive certain categories of public or freight vehicles. Subject to a separate AARTO demerit ledger.
The CPA equivalent of an AARTO notice, a written notice to appear in court for a traffic offence under the Criminal Procedure Act. Still in use for serious offences.