How does a points-based driving licence work?
In 2003, the points-based driving licence system was introduced in Italy. This system assumes that each traffic offence, from parking in a forbidden zone to the most serious offences, corresponds to the removal of more or fewer points.
Each driver starts with 20 points on the licence, which increase by 2 points every two years, up to a maximum of 30. This means that 10 years after obtaining the licence you can have reached the maximum number of points, provided you have not committed any offence or crime.
As mentioned above, licence points can be lost due to traffic offences, which reduces the balance of licence points. Therefore, it can happen that after a license points check you find yourself with a lower points balance than expected.
Those who have had a driving licence for less than 3 years, so-called new drivers, suffer a doubling of the penalty in terms of licence points. By way of example, a novice driver who is fined for a prohibited stop in a bus stop zone will be penalised with the removal of 4 points from the licence instead of 2.
What happens if you run out of license points?
If the balance of licence points reaches 0, the licence will be withdrawn by the enforcement authorities and cancelled. Therefore, it is worth checking your licence points from time to time to make sure you have a good safety margin.
To get back behind the wheel you will need to retake both the theory and practical tests within 30 days of your licence being withdrawn.
If you finish the points on your license you must completely redo it. To avoid "going back to driving school," it may be helpful to check your license points from time to time to make sure of your actual points balance.
Remember that driving with a 0 point balance is equivalent to driving a car without a driving licence. To avoid problems, we recommend that you take the practical and theory test as soon as possible.
Obviously, as soon as you pass these tests you will start with a balance of 20 licence points. Although it is highly unlikely that you will find yourself with a license point balance equal to 0, checking your license points from time to time costs nothing and can save you a lot of trouble.
Where do you see your license point balance?
Now that we've figured out how the license point mechanism works, let's find out how the license point check is done. For this, the state provides three different channels that are equally effective:
- By phone
- Online
- With the application
These three methods of checking license points work perfectly but in our opinion the best one is the use of the app.
How do you check license points over the phone?
Contrary to what you think, during the license points check over the phone you won't talk to any operator. The procedure is in fact fully automated and is in fact the fastest of all.
To find out your license points balance by phone, call +34 902 887 060(from a landline, not a mobile phone).
You will be answered by the automated switchboard which will guide you through the simple procedure of checking your licence points where necessary:
- enter your date of birth: two digits per day, two per month and four per year (in the case of 20/01/1994 you must enter 20011994);
- enter your license number (numbers only, no letters) followed by a #.
Once this information has been entered, the automatic switchboard will inform you of the points balance of your licence. In case there are problems with the line, you can repeat the points check over the phone as many times as you like.
How can I check my license points online?
If you don't have a landline and prefer to know how many licence points you have online, just log in to the personal area of the DGT Driver Portal.
If you have not yet registered, it will only take you a few minutes, remember to have your licence and tax code to hand (you can find the registration page here).
Very little information is needed to register:
- First name, last name, year of birth and social security number.
- Country, province and municipality of birth
- License number and expiration date
As soon as you have registered, all you have to do is go to the control area of the license point. This procedure is a bit longer than the one over the phone, but being registered in the Driver Portal will allow you to check other information more quickly in the future, such as the status of your insurance coverage.
Due to the simplicity of the online system we always tend to recommend checking driver's license points online over other channels.
Can you do an online license point check without registering?
In order to do a driving licence points check via the Driver Portal website you need to be registered. For this reason it is not possible to view the license points balance without registration.
Registration in the personal area of the Driver Portal is useful for dealing with various bureaucratic formalities, as well as for checking license points. Therefore, it is worth spending a few minutes to register, check license points and reuse the newly created profile in the future.
How do I check my license points with the driver's license app?
For the more tech savvy and savvy, the Motor Portal has provided a smartphone app called iPatente. Through this application we can perform both the verification of the points of the driver's license and the control of many other personal data such as the expiration date of the review or the dates of payment of car taxes.
The miDGT application is very useful for those who regularly check their personal data. The verification of license points can be done in a few seconds without having to wait on the phone.
The app is free and compatible with all iOS devices such as iPhone, iPad and Apple iPod. To download the Driver Portal app and do the driver's license points check, simply click here.
How do I retrieve my license points?
Once you have done the license points check you may be surprised by an inexplicably low balance. A few tickets or small speeding errors each year can be enough to reduce your license point balance and "lock in" the biennial increase.
At this point many of you may be wondering "how do you get your license points back?
The answer is simple: there are several ways to recover license points and avoid getting too close to the zero point threshold of Game Over license points.
Any driver who wishes to increase the balance of license points can, in fact, attend specific courses at the driving school, the Civil Motorization or other centers authorized by the Ministry of Transport.
Only 12 hours of lessons are needed to recover up to 6 license points up to a maximum of 20 points. In fact, a balance of 30 license points can only be reached through good conduct rewarded with 2 points every two years.
During these courses there are different topics, from road safety to the new regulations that have just been introduced in the Highway Code. To recover the points it is sometimes not always necessary to take an exam at the end of the course, but it may be enough to collect the attendance in the classroom.
Bearing in mind that many drivers have been passing their licences for years, if not decades, and that regulations have changed in the meantime, it can be useful to attend these courses as well to keep up to date. Another good tip is to check your license points at least once a year to be sure of your point balance.
Deducting points from your driver's license
As explained above, your license point balance can be reduced depending on the violations you commit. The reduction of your license point balance is called a"license point reduction.
Logically, the more serious the offense, the more points will be deducted from your license.
The reduction of license points starts from a minimum of 1 point to a maximum of 10 license points. Just to mention a few offences, improper use of lights results in the reduction of 1 point while speeding over 60 km/h results in the maximum penalty of 10 points deducted from the scale. Intermediate ranges consist of 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6 and 8 points taken off the licence depending on the offence.
Given the speed at which a licence points check can be carried out our advice is to do it at least once a year if you are used to taking several fines. This way it will be easy to understand how many licence points have been reduced.
