Proposal to temporarily stop collecting tolls when road quality degrades

Responding to the Ministry of Transport's official dispatch requesting comments on the Draft Decree regulating the collection of tolls for using expressways, the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), after consulting with businesses and experts, has given a number of opinions, notably a recommendation on the case of stopping toll collection.

Accordingly, regarding the regulation on temporary suspension of toll collection , VCCI believes that this draft currently does not have regulations on temporary suspension of toll collection in cases where service quality is not guaranteed, such as congestion at toll stations (toll stations must be cleared) or road quality is degraded, traffic speed is not guaranteed, or traffic accident rates are high. The regulations on conditions and procedures for new toll collection are only suitable for application in cases where toll collection has begun, and cannot be extended to apply in cases where toll collection is suspended or continued.

Reflecting to VCCI, businesses are particularly concerned about the degraded road quality affecting vehicle traffic but still have to pay fees.

For example, among the 11 expressways planned to collect tolls, businesses reported that the Hanoi - Thai Nguyen route is among the 7 expressways warned of not meeting expressway safety standards, including 15 traffic accidents from 2022 to October 2023 due to degraded road surfaces causing drivers to lose control.

In the long term, the quality of roads may deteriorate if they are not regularly maintained, especially BOT roads that, when their contracts expire, will be handed over to the State and continue to collect tolls.

Therefore, VCCI proposed that the drafting agency add regulations on cases of temporary suspension of toll collection, including cases due to degraded road quality, not ensuring speed and safety for vehicles.

VCCI proposes to temporarily stop collecting tolls when road quality deteriorates. Illustration photo: Luong Bang

At the same time, VCCI proposed adding regulations allowing vehicle owners, especially transport business associations, to monitor road quality and make recommendations to management agencies about stopping toll collection when road quality deteriorates.

In addition, VCCI also proposed adding regulations on an independent mechanism to check road quality and decide to stop or continue collecting fees when the business association and the road management agency cannot agree.

Regarding the highway toll schedule , VCCI said that the appendix of the Draft Decree currently has regulations on toll rates divided by vehicle type and road quality. Accordingly, the quality of the road will be divided into two levels, including roads that meet the highway standards and regulations stipulated in the 2024 Road Law and roads that do not meet this requirement (built earlier).

However, according to many businesses, dividing road quality like this is still not enough. In reality, the quality of highways can be quite diverse in terms of the number of lanes (4 lanes, 6 lanes and more), the maximum speed allowed (80km/h, 100km/h, 120km/h...) and in the future there will be higher quality highways.

Therefore, VCCI recommends that the drafting agency consider classifying the toll levels in more detail based on the quality of the route such as the number of lanes and the maximum speed allowed on the route. According to VCCI, this will help accurately reflect the value of services and benefits received from each expressway, thereby having appropriate corresponding toll levels.

Regarding the increase or decrease of highway toll rates, according to VCCI, the Draft Decree currently does not have any provisions on the roadmap for adjusting the highway toll rates. Meanwhile, if these routes are transferred toll collection rights, there are provisions on increasing or decreasing toll rates in Circular 55/2023/TT-BGTVT guiding the type of highway O&M contracts. The incompatibility between these legal provisions may pose risks to investors who want to participate in highway toll collection concessions.

Therefore, VCCI recommends that the drafting agency add regulations on increasing or decreasing highway usage fees in accordance with changing circumstances. For example, the fee can increase according to the inflation rate or decrease when there are incentives and support from the State when the economy is in difficulty.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/de-xuat-tam-dung-thu-phi-khi-chat-luong-duong-xuong-cap-2327768.html