I co-founded Maut & Vignette B.V. back in 2014 together with Freek Jurg. Based at our main office in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, I serve as CEO and focus on the overall strategic direction of the company, including which markets, routes, and services we expand into next. I also spend a lot of time on the road myself, testing and verifying major transit routes across Europe. My most recent trip to Hungary was in April 2026.
As an independent service provider, our aim is to make cross-border driving easier through a network of platforms covering more than 15 countries and supporting over 22 languages.
My path to European tolling started on the road, out of personal frustration rather than from behind a desk.
Back in 2008, I was driving through Hungary in a rental car. I assumed the rental company had taken care of all the necessary road permits, but I was wrong. I ended up receiving a steep fine because the car didn't have the physical motorway sticker required at the time.
A few years later, I ran into a similar problem when trying to work out how to get a German green emissions sticker before driving into Wiesbaden to visit family. The process was confusing, poorly explained for non-local drivers, and more stressful than it needed to be.
When Hungary expanded its digital e-Matrica registration system in 2014, Freek and I saw an opportunity to make the process easier. We built an independent, simple-to-use service that allowed international drivers to register their number plates in their own language and better understand the rules before setting off.
Over the years, growing the company and analysing customer feedback has shown me exactly where international drivers tend to run into problems with Hungary's e-Matrica system. Because enforcement is largely automated through overhead camera gantries operated by NÚSZ (Nemzeti Útdíjszolgáltató Zrt.), even tiny registration mistakes can lead to headaches and unexpected fines.
Some of the most common issues we help drivers avoid include:
Our platform is designed to reduce the risk of these mistakes during registration, so you can travel without worrying about administrative fines arriving weeks later. And mark my words: in Hungary, fines are issued for every single day you drive without a valid vignette, so the costs can add up fast!
I strongly believe that running a travel-focused company requires first-hand experience. I regularly drive the major transit routes across Central, Western and Southern Europe to see how the motorway systems work in practice.
During a route verification trip across Hungary in April 2026 with our photographer Ujjawal Verma, we recorded several useful observations:
I know how easy it is to get Hungarian toll rules wrong because I made that mistake myself back in 2008. Since then, I've driven tens of thousands of kilometres across Europe by car and in my family's camper. That experience has given me a practical understanding of how different European toll systems work, how vehicle categories vary from country to country, and where drivers are most likely to make mistakes.
When you've actually driven these routes yourself, you start to notice the small details that official websites don't always explain clearly. My test drives in Hungary also help me understand how the e-Matrica system works in real-world conditions, not just how it's described in official documentation. I know where the camera gantries are located, what the quality of the roads is, how the speed limits are controlled, and that the 60-minute grace period doesn't work in practice.
I personally write some of our content and review most of it before publication. I cross-check information against official resources and combine that with our own experience on the road, with the aim of making our guides as accurate, practical, and useful as possible.
That experience helps us give drivers clearer advice and reduce the risk of avoidable toll mistakes and fines.
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