Penalty points and losing your licence: limits, expiry, courses (2026)

After 24 points you are sent for a check test and a psychological examination (failing means losing your entitlement); in the first year the starosta withdraws it after 20 points. Points expire a year after you pay the fine. A driver with over a year's experience can shed 6 points at a WORD course once every 6 months.

How many penalty points can you have?

The limit depends on how long you have held your licence. A driver who has had a licence for more than a year is sent, after exceeding 24 points, for a qualification check test and a psychological examination, and failing means the entitlement is withdrawn. During the first year after the first driving licence is issued the limit is lower, at 20 points (art. 135 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym)).

On top of that there is a third threshold, which applies only during the probation period: 12 points. After exceeding it, a new driver must complete training at an ODTJ (ośrodek doskonalenia techniki jazdy, an advanced driving centre). We describe the rules for that threshold in our article on the probation period for new drivers from September 2026.

How many points do you get for one offence?

For one offence you get from 1 to 15 points. If you break several rules with a single act, every offence is recorded with its own points; the regulation merges only selected groups of codes (for example lights, or stopping at a crossing), where only the single most heavily pointed offence counts. That is how gov.pl describes it, citing art. 17 of the Act of 2 December 2021 amending the Road Traffic Act (Journal of Laws (Dz.U.) item 2328).

Two extreme examples show the scale. The amounts come from the fines tariff, meaning the regulation on the amount of fines imposed by way of penalty notices (Dz.U. 2021 item 2484), and the number of points from the list on gov.pl:

Between those extremes there are further thresholds, which you will find in the fines tariff. Amounts and points are given as of September 2026.

The repeat offence rule has applied since 17 September 2022 and means that for a second identical offence within 2 years you pay a double fine. Not every offence carries points: one example is the fine for poor vehicle maintenance, which we cover in our text on the fine for a snow-covered car.

What happens after you exceed the limit?

At 24 points (a driver with more than a year's experience) the starosta (the head of the district office, which issues driving licences) refers you for a qualification check test and a psychological examination (art. 98a of the Act on Vehicle Drivers (ustawa o kierujących pojazdami)). If you fail the test, you lose your entitlement.

In the first year after your first driving licence is issued the rule is stricter. Exceeding 20 points means withdrawal of the entitlement. There is no check test as a second chance.

The sequence of events looks like this:

1. The police or another authority enters the offence in the drivers' register.
2. After the limit is exceeded, the starosta issues a decision: a referral for the test and examination (24 points) or withdrawal of the entitlement (20 points in the first year).
3. You take the check test and undergo the psychological examination. A negative result or a fail ends in withdrawal of the entitlement.

When do points expire?

Points disappear from the register after a year. You count that year not from the day of the offence but from the day you pay the fine, when the fine was imposed by the police. If the fine was imposed by another authority, the period runs from the day it became final. In a court case you count the year from the day the judgment became final. These deadlines are given on gov.pl on the basis of art. 17 of the Act of 2 December 2021 (Dz.U. item 2328).

The record of the offence itself stays in the register longer. The data is kept for 5 years (gov.pl), although after a year it no longer counts towards the limit.

Example: you get a speeding fine on 15 March and pay it on 2 April. The points for that offence expire on 2 April the following year. If you refused the fine and the case went to court, the year only starts running from the final judgment.

How to reduce your points: the WORD course

The regional driving test centres (WORD, Wojewódzki Ośrodek Ruchu Drogowego) run a course that reduces your points by up to 6. The basic condition: the fine that gave you the points must be paid before you reach 24 points. The course is meant to help before you exceed the limit, not after the fact.

Course rules (as of September 2026):

The amendment of 17 October 2025 (Dz.U. 2025 item 1676) rules out the remote format from 3 June 2026; the once-every-6-months limit and the exclusion of first-year drivers still apply. We quote the price after the media; check the price list at your WORD before you book.

When will the police withhold your licence for 3 months?

A separate sanction, independent of points, is the withholding of your driving licence for speeding by more than 50 km/h. Until 3 March 2026 this applied only in built-up areas. Since that date the police also withhold licences on two-way single-carriageway roads outside built-up areas (art. 135(1)(2)(a) of the Road Traffic Act as worded by the amendment of 17 October 2025).

Example: on a two-way single-carriageway road outside town you exceed the limit by 55 km/h. From 3 March 2026, on top of the fine and points, you lose your licence for 3 months. Before the change, on such a road you only risked a fine with points. The 3-month withholding for more than 50 km/h in a built-up area is the subject of question 10822 from the Ministry of Infrastructure database.

You do not have to have the document itself on you during a check, because the police verify your entitlement in the register. More in our text on whether you need to carry your driving licence.

How to check your penalty points?

You have three ways, all described on gov.pl:

1. The mObywatel app: in the mPrawo jazdy service you see your current points balance. You log in with a trusted profile (profil zaufany).
2. A police station, verbally: the officer checks the register and tells you your number of points. You pay nothing.
3. A police station, written certificate: 17 zł (as of September 2026). Useful when you need the document for an office or an employer.

Check your balance after every fine. With several offences in a short time it is easy to lose count, especially in the first year with the 20-point limit.

Penalty points in the probation period

If you have your first category B licence, three thresholds apply to you at once. After exceeding 12 points in the probation period you must complete a one-hour practical training session at an ODTJ within 12 months, for at most 500 zł. After exceeding 20 points in the first year you lose your entitlement. Two final convictions for offences from the list in art. 92(5) extend the probation period by 2 years, and a third ends in withdrawal of the entitlement.

Before your theory test, go through the questions from the official catalogue about the consequences of offences, because this is knowledge you need from your first day behind the wheel.

What to do after a fine so you do not lose your licence?

Pay the fine straight away. The year after which the points disappear is counted from the date of payment, so every day of delay pushes back the expiry. If you disagree with the fine and the case goes to court, the year only starts running from the final judgment.

Then check your balance in mObywatel and work out how far you are from the limit. At 18-20 points with more than a year's experience, consider the WORD course before you reach 24, because once you exceed the limit the course no longer helps.