How to stop forgetting your ITP, RCA, CASCO and rovinietă

Four documents, four different deadlines#

Each document has its own rhythm, issuer and penalty. Here is where each date is written.

You buy them at different times of the year, so the dates drift apart, especially after you change car, insurer or vignette length. The dates that come round every year, from car tax to tyres, are in the car calendar.

ITP: the date is in the talon annex#

The date your ITP is valid until is written in the annex to the registration certificate (talon), and the month is also on the ITP sticker on the front number plate. The inspection certificate doesn't show it. The interval depends on the car's age; the rules, what is checked and how to prepare are in our ITP guide.

One thing to remember: the next ITP is due counting from the day you had the inspection, not from the day the old one would have expired. Go early and the new date comes early too. And the road traffic code (OUG 195/2002) lets the police keep your registration certificate if the car has no valid ITP.

RCA: compulsory as long as the car is registered#

Law 132/2017 requires the owner of every car registered in Romania to have RCA insurance, even if the car just sits in a car park. An RCA contract runs for one to 12 months, in whole months, as you choose.

• The end date is on the policy. If you chose a 6-month policy, you have two deadlines a year, not one.
• Without valid RCA, the law provides for a fine and for the police to keep the registration certificate until you show proof that you are insured.
• Check the policy at any time in the AIDA (opens in a new tab) database run by BAAR (the Romanian motor insurers' bureau), by number plate.

A practical tip: ask for quotes a week or two before the policy ends, so the new one starts on exactly the day the old one finishes.

CASCO: optional, but it still expires#

CASCO covers damage to your own car, under the terms of the contract. The law doesn't require it, but if you have it, it has an expiry date too. If the car is on a lease or finance, check what that contract says about insurance.

RCA is liability insurance and doesn't include roadside assistance by itself. Assistance is an add-on: included in some policies or bought separately. If you have it, note the number next to the expiry date.

Rovinietă: electronic, from one day to 12 months#

Since 1 October 2026 the rovinietă has applied under Law 226/2023. It is due on national roads, except the stretches inside cities (municipii). The price depends on the vehicle category, its Euro emission class and the length, set by an order of the transport minister.

• Lengths for cars: 1 day, 10 days, 30 days, 60 days and 12 months.
• There is no sticker: a valid rovinietă is an electronic record in CNAIR's database (CNAIR is the national roads company). Keep the proof of payment and check validity on CNAIR's portal.
• Validity starts at 00:00 on the first day and ends at 24:00 on the last day. If you buy it for the current day, it is valid from the moment the payment is recorded. A 12-month vignette lasts until the day before the same date the following year.
• You can buy the rovinietă up to 30 days before its start date, so you can get the next one in advance.
• If you sell or buy the car, the rovinietă stays valid.
• Vignettes bought before 1 October 2026 stay valid until they expire.

Missing vignettes are also caught by cameras on national roads. The fine is between twice and four times the price of a 12-month rovinietă, and it is a continuing offence: after one is recorded, no further fine can be issued for the same car until you receive the fine notice (within 2 months at most). That doesn't excuse you from buying it: get one straight away.

Look at the four dates now: ITP, RCA, CASCO and rovinietă. If one expires in the next 30 days, sort it out today.

A simple system so you stop forgetting#

1. Gather the documents: the talon with the annex showing the ITP, the RCA policy, the CASCO policy and the rovinietă receipt.
2. Write down each expiry date in one place, not four.
3. Set an alert a month ahead and another one a week ahead.
4. Keep a photo or PDF of each document, so the policy number and the insurer are at hand.
5. After every renewal, update the date straight away.

Step 5 is the hard one: an old date left in your calendar reassures you for nothing. It helps when the expiry date is worked out from what you bought. The same system works for your own documents as a driver, from licence to medical certificate.

How CariX keeps your deadlines up to date#

In the free driver account you add your car, then its documents: ITP, RCA, CASCO and rovinietă, plus the tachograph if you have one.

• The expiry date is worked out for you: for the ITP you pick the inspection date and the validity (6 months, 1, 2 or 3 years); for the rovinietă you pick the length you bought and the start date, and CariX calculates when it expires. For RCA and CASCO you enter the date on the policy.
• The policy at hand: the policy number, the insurer and a photo or PDF of the document sit on the car's page. If you have roadside assistance, its number is there too, ready to call.
• Reminders by email 30, 14 and 7 days and one day before each expiry, for every document.
• "Book" from the ITP reminder takes you to the shop that set it or to the ITP station search, with your car already selected.

You still buy the vignette and the policies wherever you like: CariX keeps the dates and reminds you, it doesn't sell insurance or vignettes.