How to Pay Tolls Online in Brazil: Tags, Free Flow, and the Mandatory Toll Voucher

Paying tolls online is the best way to skip lines and save time on the road, whether you travel often or run a fleet that’s on the road every day.

In Brazil today, there are two ways to pay tolls online: with an electronic toll tag or, on roads with Free Flow (barrier-free tolling), directly on the toll operator’s website or app. And for companies that hire freight transportation, there are also the rules of the mandatory toll voucher (vale-pedágio obrigatório), which changed recently.

In this article, you’ll learn:

• how to pay tolls online with a tag;
• how to pay Free Flow tolls;
• whether you can pay tolls later;
• the main toll payment options;
• what changed in the mandatory toll voucher;
• how to calculate tolls in complex operations.

How do you pay tolls online with a tag?

An electronic toll tag is a sticker placed on the windshield that identifies the vehicle at toll gates and Free Flow gantries. Here’s how to get started.

1. Research and choose a provider

Each toll tag provider offers different plans. Start by choosing the one that best fits your needs. Consider situations such as:

• you rarely travel but use parking garages in the city;
• you travel often and regularly pass through tolls;
• you prefer to add credit only when you need it;
• you want automatic monthly billing;
• you need a business plan for your fleet.

2. Sign up

Once you’ve picked a provider and plan, sign up with your details and the details of the vehicle that will carry the tag.

3. Install the tag

Depending on the provider, you’ll receive the tag by mail or pick it up at a distribution point. Then stick it on the windshield, following the instructions.

Each time you pass, the gate opens automatically (or the Free Flow gantry records the pass), and the toll is deducted from your prepaid balance or added to your postpaid bill.

4. Track your payments online

After your trip, log in to your account on the website or app to see what you paid or what you owe.

For businesses, tags also help cut transportation costs because you pay the exact amount, with no rounding, and you eliminate manual expense reporting. On a single trip it may seem small, but across a fleet it adds up.

How do you pay Free Flow tolls?

Free Flow roads have no gates or booths: gantries with cameras and antennas read the vehicle’s license plate or tag. The system already operates on highways in Brazilian states such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, and Minas Gerais.

• With a tag: you’re charged automatically, just as at a gate.
• Without a tag: you look up the pass by license plate on the official website or app of the operator that runs that stretch and pay by Pix (Brazil’s instant payment system), card, or another available method.

Under Contran Resolution No. 1,013/2024, you have up to 30 calendar days after passing to pay.

Watch out for scams: fake websites mimic Free Flow charges and ask for Pix payments. Type the operator’s official address directly into your browser and check the recipient’s name before confirming any payment.

Can you pay tolls later?

Yes, in two ways:

• Postpaid tag: the toll tag provider records your passes and bills you on your statement.
• Free Flow without a tag: you pay up to 30 days after passing, through the operator’s official channels.

If the Free Flow deadline passes without payment, the operator reports the unpaid toll to traffic authorities, and it becomes a toll evasion fine, a serious violation under Article 209 of Brazil’s Traffic Code.

Toll payment options

Over the years, toll collection has modernized to make life easier for professional drivers and leisure travelers alike. These are the main payment options in Brazil:

Cash

The most traditional option at toll plazas with booths. It’s simple but not always practical: on holidays, booth lines can add hours to a trip.

Cards and Pix at booths

Many toll operators now accept debit cards, credit cards, or Pix at their booths. It’s worth checking the highway operator’s website before you travel.

Toll tags

Tags are read by gates and Free Flow gantries, which let the vehicle through and charge it automatically. Toll tag providers offer apps to track spending, top up your balance, and view your pass history.

One-off Free Flow payment

If you drive through a Free Flow gantry without a tag, you pay afterward on the operator’s website or app, within the deadline.

Brazil’s mandatory toll voucher: what changed

If your company hires road freight transportation in Brazil, tolls aren’t just about convenience: they’re a legal obligation.

What is the mandatory toll voucher?

The mandatory toll voucher (vale-pedágio obrigatório, or VPO) was created by Law No. 10,209/2001 and is regulated by ANTT Resolution No. 6,024/2023. It requires the party hiring the freight to advance the trip’s toll costs to the carrier, so truck drivers don’t pay tolls out of their own pockets.

What are the current rules?

• Who pays: the shipper hiring the transportation, in advance and separately from the freight payment, regardless of the freight amount.
• How: through a Mandatory Toll Voucher Provider (FVPO) authorized by ANTT, Brazil’s National Land Transportation Agency. Cash payment is prohibited.
• Payment method: since 2025, the VPO is valid only in electronic form, using a tag. The old cards and coupons have been discontinued, and VPO tags are provided to carriers with no monthly fee.
• Amount: the full amount needed from origin to destination, covering every toll plaza on the contracted route at the rate for the vehicle’s category. On Free Flow stretches, the maximum amount must be advanced.
• Recordkeeping: the shipper must record the VPO details in the Electronic Transportation Document (DT-e) or another document specified by ANTT.
• Penalties: noncompliance exposes shippers, providers, and toll operators to the fines set out in ANTT Resolution No. 6,024/2023.

In practice, this means knowing exactly, before every trip, which tolls are on the route and how much each one costs for that vehicle type.

Calculating tolls in complex operations

If your company runs many trips a month, calculating tolls by hand is impractical and risky: a mistake can mean an unexpected cost or a toll voucher advanced for the wrong amount.

The Toll API from Maplink Cloud’s Platform, integrated with your system, automatically calculates the tolls on every route:

• identifies every toll plaza and gantry along the way;
• calculates the cost by vehicle type, including axles and lifted axles;
• uses rates kept up to date through continuous monitoring of official sources;
• follows the mandatory toll voucher methodology and already accounts for Free Flow tolling.

The result: more predictable costs and confidence that you’re advancing the right VPO amount.

Maplink Cloud has spent more than 25 years bringing together geolocation, cloud, and data intelligence for companies across Latin America. With Maplink Cloud Managed Services, our team integrates the Toll API and other Platform APIs with your TMS, ERP, or WMS.

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