How to check and pay traffic fines with your ID number

South Africa has two systems for traffic fines. Most of the big metros outside the Western Cape use AARTO (the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act), with its own national website. The rest use the older court-based system, where the municipality issues the fine. Find out which one your fine is under first: that tells you where to check it with your ID number.

Which system is your fine under?

AARTO started in Johannesburg and Tshwane. On 1 July 2026, it was extended to more municipal areas, listed in Proclamation 323 of 2026. AARTO applies in an area from the date set in a proclamation in the Government Gazette. If you aren’t sure whether your area is under AARTO, check the RTIA website or ask your municipality’s traffic department.

If you got a fine under the old system before your area joined AARTO, you still have to settle it.

How to check fines with your ID number

• AARTO areas: use the “Check your fines” service on the official AARTO website, online.aarto.gov.za. The Road Traffic Infringement Authority (RTIA) says it is the only official AARTO website.
• Through NaTIS: the official NaTIS online service shows problems on your vehicles, such as an AARTO enforcement order, and you can pay AARTO enforcement orders there. The Road Traffic Management Corporation says customers of Capitec, FNB and Nedbank can reach this service through their banking apps.
• Cape Town: fines issued since mid-2020 are on the City’s fines website. You need the fine notice number and your ID number. For questions, call the City on 0860 103 089.

If a fines website rejects your ID number, check that you typed all 13 digits correctly with our ID number check.

Other apps and websites also offer fine checks. They are not government services, so check the fine on the official site before you pay.

Your options under AARTO

Within 32 days of getting an AARTO infringement notice, you can:

• pay with a 50% discount,
• apply to pay in instalments, but then you pay the full penalty, without the discount,
• nominate the driver, if someone else was driving your vehicle, or
• make a representation to the RTIA, if you want to challenge the fine. If it is rejected, a fee of R100 is added.

If you do nothing for 32 days, you get a courtesy letter: you lose the discount, and a fee of R100 is added. If you still do nothing for another 32 days, an enforcement order follows, with another R100 fee. While an enforcement order is unpaid, you can’t renew your driving licence or licence disc, or register a vehicle.

If your representation fails, you can take the matter to the Appeals Tribunal. The application fee is R200.

The AARTO Act also sets up a demerit points system, which the government brings in separately from the fines. Check the RTIA website to see whether it applies.

Fines in Cape Town and other areas outside AARTO

In Cape Town, you can pay through the City’s fines website and the payment channels the City lists. To dispute a fine, send a written representation to the Traffic Department, or contact the public prosecutor at the court on your fine. Representations are only for first and second notices: a summons or a warrant must be dealt with at the municipal court.

If you ignore a summons and a warrant of arrest is issued, the City puts an admin mark on your record, and you then can’t renew your car licence or driving licence until it is cleared. See the City’s fines page for how to clear one.

Stay safe

• The RTIA says the only official AARTO website is online.aarto.gov.za. Other .com, .co.za and .online sites that use the AARTO name are fake.
• Scammers send SMSes and emails with payment links that promise a discount or threaten a licence block. Don’t click the link: check the fine yourself on the official website.
• When you pay an AARTO fine, use the 16-digit infringement notice number as the reference.
• The NaTIS service does not send fine notices by email.

Read our guide to avoiding scams for more warning signs.