Status as at 7 September 2026. Status: Adopted, not yet in force. Instrument: Odluka o utvrđivanju visine godišnje naknade za korišćenje puteva pri registraciji drumskih motornih vozila, traktora i priključnih vozila, made under Article 20(2) of the Zakon o putevima ("Sl. list CG" nos. 82/20, 140/22 and 39/26). The Government adopted it at its session of 18 June 2026 on a proposal from the Ministry of Transport; the conclusion recording that adoption is no. 11-011/26-2337/3 of 23 June 2026.
This reached us as a political claim — an opposition statement, reported on 6 September 2026, that registration charges were about to rise by up to 500 per cent. The claim turned out to sit on top of something real and already decided, which is why it is worth writing down properly rather than repeating the percentage.
What the decision says
The amount is no longer a flat entry in a list. Article 2 replaces it with a formula: GN = OGN × K, where GN is the annual amount in euros, OGN is a basic annual amount fixed at 5.00 euros, and K is a correction coefficient set per vehicle category. Every figure in the schedule is that 5.00 base multiplied by the coefficient for the band.
| Engine capacity (petrol or diesel car, category M1) | Coefficient K | Annual amount |
|---|---|---|
| up to 900 cm³ | 1.00 | 5.00 euros |
| 901 – 1350 cm³ | 2.10 | 10.50 euros |
| 1351 – 1800 cm³ | 3.20 | 16.00 euros |
| 1801 – 2500 cm³ | 4.30 | 21.50 euros |
| 2501 – 3150 cm³ | 5.40 | 27.00 euros |
| over 3150 cm³ | 6.50 | 32.50 euros |
Two multipliers sit under that table. A passenger car with six to nine seats takes the figure above multiplied by 1.3. A plug-in hybrid takes it multiplied by 0.8. Fully electric cars leave the displacement table entirely and are banded by motor power instead, from 3.75 euros up to 55 kW to 25.00 euros above 115 kW. Motorcycles run from 1.50 to 2.50 euros on displacement, and from 1.00 to 2.00 euros on power where they are electric. Buses, lorries, trailers and tractors have their own weight bands in the same schedule; a two-axle bus starts at 20.00 euros and adds 3.00 euros for every tonne above eighteen.
Three procedural articles matter more than the arithmetic.
Article 3 says the amount is paid when you apply to register or to renew a registration, in a single payment, in advance for twelve months, counting the month of registration itself. Article 4 gives a proportional amount where a vehicle is registered for less than twelve months. Article 5 is the one worth remembering: if the vehicle changes owner, the new owner does not pay the annual amount again until the period already paid for runs out.
Article 7 sets the timing in the pattern Montenegro uses often: the decision enters into force on the eighth day after publication in the Gazette, but applies from 1 July 2027. Article 6 then repeals the schedule that has been running since 2005 ("Sl. list RCG" no. 60/05) on the day the new one starts to apply.
What we could not verify
We did not read the 2005 schedule.
That matters, because the entire "up to 500 per cent" framing is a comparison against figures we have not seen in their own text. We are not adopting that percentage as ours, and we are not restating the old amounts. Anyone who needs the increase rather than the level should read 60/05 directly.
There is a second reason for that caution. The press figures for the new schedule are not exactly right either: for the 901–1350 cm³ band the reports give 10 euros, while the decision produces 10.50 (coefficient 2.10 against a base of 5.00). A small gap, but it is the gap between a number someone repeated and a number the text yields.
We also could not establish the Gazette issue. The conclusion says the decision will be published in the "Službeni list Crne Gore", and we checked the issues published immediately after the session — 86/2026 of 19 June, 87/2026 of 24 June and 88/2026 of 25 June — without finding it; the search across later June issues ran into the Gazette site's rate limiting. Because the issue number is unknown, the entry-into-force day cannot be calculated, only the rule that produces it. The application date of 1 July 2027 does not depend on that and is fixed in the text.
How we read it
Nothing is payable under this decision before 1 July 2027, and a registration renewed in the meantime runs on the old schedule. For most private cars the level is modest in absolute terms — a 1.6-litre car lands at 16.00 euros a year — so the practical planning point is not the amount but Article 5. If you are buying a used car in Montenegro from a seller whose registration still has months to run, the annual amount for that remaining period has already been paid and is not charged to you again. That is worth checking against the registration documents rather than assumed.
What did not change
The obligation to register a vehicle, the technical inspection, and compulsory motor insurance are governed by their own rules and this decision does not touch any of them. It does not change who may own or register a vehicle in Montenegro, and it has no connection to residence status: your permit does not depend on it and it does not depend on your permit. It is not a tax on ownership and not a road toll; it is the annual road-use amount collected at the registration counter. The 2005 schedule stays in force until 1 July 2027.
How to verify
The decision and the conclusion recording its adoption are both published by the Government. The text with the full schedule is at gov.me/dokumenta/12446806… and the conclusion, which carries the session date and number, at gov.me/dokumenta/5f065c18…. In the decision, the sentence to look for is in Article 7: "primjenjivaće se od 1. jula 2027. godine". The enabling provision is Article 20(2) of the Zakon o putevima, whose 2026 amendment is registered at sluzbenilist.me. Once the Gazette issue appears, the eighth-day rule in Article 7 gives the entry-into-force date.
If you hold a residence permit in Montenegro or are preparing one, vehicle registration sits alongside the residence file rather than inside it; the grounds and evidence for the permit itself are set out on our residence permit page. We will add the Gazette number here when the decision is published, and the running record of these texts is in Legal Updates.
