12 expressways invested by the State have been completed and put into operation, including the following routes: Mai Son - National Highway 45, National Highway 45 - Nghi Son, Nghi Son - Dien Chau, Cam Lo - La Son, My Thuan - Can Tho... which can be used to collect tolls.
The Vietnam Road Administration has just submitted to the Ministry of Transport a draft Government Decree regulating highway usage fees for vehicles traveling on highways invested in, owned, managed and exploited by the State under the management of the Ministry of Transport.
According to Mr. Bui Quang Thai, Director of the Vietnam Road Administration, the consistent view of the Ministry of Transport is that only expressways with service quality corresponding to the collection level will be subject to toll collection. The State does not collect tolls on expressways for profit. Toll collection is to provide capital for maintenance and investment in the development of new expressways.
Mai Son - National Highway 45 Expressway is eligible to collect tolls. Photo: Hoang Ha
Therefore, the draft decree clearly states that expressways invested by the State that are allowed to collect tolls must satisfy the condition that the project is designed and invested in according to technical standards and regulations on expressways and other relevant technical standards and regulations.
The second condition is that the expressway project has completed construction and been put into operation and use according to the provisions of the law on construction.
The third condition is to have completed the construction and installation of toll station infrastructure, software systems, and equipment to ensure operations and toll collection services according to regulations.
For expressways put into operation before January 1, 2025 that do not meet the provisions in Clause 1, Article 45 and Clause 2, Article 47 of the Road Law, toll collection will be implemented after meeting the second and third conditions.
According to the leader of the Vietnam Road Administration, this is also a mandatory requirement stipulated in the Road Law.
Based on the above conditions, the Vietnam Road Administration said that there are currently 12 projects and expressway sections invested by the State that have been completed and put into operation and can be used to collect tolls.
These expressways include: Lao Cai – Kim Thanh, Hanoi – Thai Nguyen, Ho Chi Minh City – Trung Luong, Cao Bo – Mai Son, Mai Son – National Highway 45, National Highway 45 – Nghi Son, Nghi Son – Dien Chau, Cam Lo – La Son, La Son – Hoa Lien, Vinh Hao – Phan Thiet, Phan Thiet – Dau Giay, My Thuan – Can Tho.
The number of expressway projects will double by the end of 2025, if the 12 component projects of the North-South Eastern Expressway construction investment project in the 2021-2025 period are completed on schedule.
Regarding the fee, the Vietnam Road Administration emphasized that it will proceed cautiously to avoid too much impact on the CPI index and logistics costs. The fee is built based on 4 principles, in which it is worth noting that the collection level must be reasonable and in harmony with the collection level for road and highway services invested in the form of public-private partnership (PPP).
In addition, the toll rate allows highway users to share benefits with the State. Therefore, the toll rate must be lower than the benefits highway users receive.
On that basis, there are 3 options for stipulating the collection level proposed by the drafting agency to apply, including: Low option with the fee determined based on 50% of user benefits; Medium option with the fee determined based on 60% of user benefits; High option with the fee determined based on 70% of user benefits.
The Vietnam Road Administration has proposed choosing the high option for expressways that meet standards and regulations, and choosing the low option for expressways that were put into operation before January 1, 2025 but did not fully meet the regulations.
According to calculations by the Institute of Transport Strategy and Development, the results of quantifying vehicle operating costs and time costs show that, compared to traveling on parallel national highways, vehicles traveling on expressways will benefit an average of VND 4,824/vehicle/km, of which 25% comes from saving vehicle operating costs and 75% comes from saving time for goods and passengers on the road.
Article 50 of the Road Law stipulates: The State collects highway usage fees for vehicles traveling on highways invested in, owned, managed and exploited by the State, including:
Expressways invested by the State in the form of public investment, expressways invested in other forms when the contract ends, are transferred to the State.
The management and use of revenue from highway usage fees are regulated as follows:
The road management agency directly organizes the exploitation of assets and pays the collected fees to the State budget according to the provisions of law on fees and charges.
The organization receiving the franchise fee collection and business franchise - management shall pay the franchise fee as prescribed into the state budget; the fee amount collected during the performance of the transfer contract shall not be paid into the state budget, except for the revenue portion that must be shared with the state as prescribed by law.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/12-tuyen-cao-toc-do-nha-nuoc-dau-tu-du-dieu-kien-trien-khai-thu-phi-2300242.html
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