Many duties around registration carry the words without delay. This page shows which omissions the Vehicle Registration Ordinance classifies as an administrative offence.
Zevra is the B2B platform for digital vehicle registration for car dealers, registration services and fleets: cases are entered in the dealer portal and filed nationwide by power of attorney with qualified electronic signature – from €10 per registration, no base fee, no minimum volume.
Last updated: · Zevra editorial team · Reviewed by M. Gabal, owner
What does section 77 of the Vehicle Registration Ordinance govern?
Section 77 lists in 28 numbers which breaches of the ordinance are administrative offences within the meaning of section 24 (1) of the Road Traffic Act. Negligence is enough: an offence is committed by anyone who intentionally or negligently breaches one of the duties named.
Section 77 names no amount. The provision only defines which conduct is an offence.
Which offences concern sale, move and change of keeper?
8 of the 28 numbers are tied to the reporting duties on changes.
| Breach | Number in section 77 |
|---|---|
| Change of vehicle or keeper data not reported or not reported in time | 13 |
| Change of keeper not reported by the previous keeper | 13 |
| Nothing applied for after a move to another district, or Part I not presented | 14 |
| Buyer does not report their data | 15 |
| Buyer does not apply for a new registration certificate Part I | 16 |
| Buyer does not present Part II for the transfer | 17 |
| Buyer does not clarify the plate | 18 |
| Use as a rental car or for passenger transport not notified | 12 |
| Enforceable order of the authority disregarded | 6 |
The yardstick in each case is the deadline of the duty itself: without delay.
Which offences concern putting a vehicle into operation?
An offence is committed by anyone who operates a vehicle contrary to the ordinance – and by a keeper who orders or permits its operation.
- operating a vehicle that requires registration without registration,
- driving a vehicle registered online before the seal sticker carriers sent have been fixed firmly,
- driving a vehicle with an insurance plate that is not designed or mounted as prescribed,
- having a vehicle operated despite a prohibition of operation.
Which offences exist after online registration?
The ordinance obliges the keeper to fix a seal sticker carrier that was sent firmly at the prescribed place without delay. Anyone who does not do this, does it incorrectly or not in time commits an offence.
If a vehicle registered online is operated without the carriers fixed, the registration authority may also withdraw the plates – regardless of prosecution as an administrative offence.
What applies to one-day registration and missing insurance?
With a one-day registration, the provisional registration certificate must be displayed in the vehicle, clearly readable from outside, until the end of the day. Anyone who does not display it or displays it incorrectly commits an offence.
An offence is also committed by anyone who does not have a vehicle taken out of service, or not in time, when motor liability insurance is missing or after a prohibition of operation.
How does the trade avoid these offences?
The duties named carry the same deadline: without delay. Breaches therefore arise from delay – after the sale, after the move, after the seal sticker carriers arrive.
- Report the change of keeper on the day of handover or deregister the vehicle beforehand.
- Fix seal sticker carriers immediately after they arrive.
- With a one-day registration, display the provisional registration certificate in the vehicle.
What does Zevra handle – and what not?
Zevra is the B2B platform for digital vehicle registration. Dealerships and registration service providers submit transfer, deregistration and re-registration digitally. A transfer costs from €10 per case, deregistration €2 net, plus official fees.
Zevra is not an authority and not legal advice. The competent authority decides on administrative offences.
- Temporary registration proof: valid for 10 days
- Documents posted by the authority: within 6 days
- Digital deregistration: documents from 01.01.2015
- Digital registration: documents from 01.01.2018
- Registration with Zevra: €10 net
- Deregistration with Zevra: €2 net · base fee: €0
Deadlines and cut-off dates according to: Bundesministerium für Verkehr
Read more
- New registration online: register new cars digitally and hand over the same day
- Transfer online: re-register a used car to the buyer digitally
- Re-registration online: put deregistered vehicles back into service digitally
- Day registration online: first registration for one calendar day – digitally from the dealership
- Vehicle deregistration online: take vehicles out of service digitally – for dealers and fleets
- Change of address after a move: re-registering a vehicle online
- Vehicle registration by the dealer – also in another federal state
- Registration for used-car dealers: which vehicles work online?
- Registering a leased vehicle: who is the keeper – and where does the registration certificate part II stay?
- Registering a company car: which documents does each legal form need?
- Registering motorcycles and trailers online: what is the same for dealers – and what differs
- Registering motorhomes and caravans online: what dealers need to know
- Registering an electric car in Germany: tax exemption and E plate
- Importing an EU vehicle and registering it in Germany: what dealers need to know
- Registration without a valid HU: what is possible when the inspection has expired
- Keeper's change of name: having the vehicle documents changed
- Registering rental cars and taxis: reporting the use and meeting deadlines
- Certificate of destruction (Verwertungsnachweis): scrapping and deregistering a car
- Registering a tractor: which farm machinery needs no registration
- Car sold: what seller and buyer must report to the authority
- Compulsory deregistration: when the authority takes a vehicle off the road
- Reporting vehicle changes: what must be reported without delay
- Car dealerships
- Registration services
- Fleet operators
- Pricing
Sources: Fahrzeug-Zulassungsverordnung (FZV) § 77 – Ordnungswidrigkeiten · Fahrzeug-Zulassungsverordnung (FZV) § 15 – Mitteilungspflichten bei Änderungen · Fahrzeug-Zulassungsverordnung (FZV) § 26 – Gemeinsame Regelungen für die Zulassung und für Änderungen · Fahrzeug-Zulassungsverordnung (FZV) § 7 – Tageszulassung · Sources