No worries about extra fees

Excluding relevant taxes and fees

The Government has just issued Decree 130/2024 regulating the collection of tolls for vehicles traveling on expressways owned by the entire people, with the State representing the owner and directly managing and operating them.

Agreeing with paying fees when traveling on highways invested by the State, Mr. Dinh Van Thu (Yen Hoa, Cau Giay, Hanoi) said that he often travels for work by personal car, and is also used to paying fees when traveling on the highway.

Phan Thiet - Dau Giay Expressway invested by the State budget has been put into operation.

"When the State collects tolls on highways invested with budget money, how will the toll money be used to maintain and repair the highway system?" Mr. Thu wondered.

Sharing the same view, Mr. Le Tuan Anh (in Hoang Mai, Hanoi) also worries about toll roads, or the possibility of "overlapping fees". It is necessary to consider appropriately, avoiding the situation of fees being too high or being collected on the wrong roads.

Explaining this issue, Mr. Dinh Cao Thang, Head of Finance Department, Vietnam Road Administration, said that the State currently collects road fees based on the number of vehicles. The collection of highway fees through toll stations on highways invested by the State may cause many people to be concerned and some people think that "fees overlap fees".

According to Mr. Thang, the fee has been calculated by the professional agency on the basis of excluding related taxes and fees, including excluding road usage fees collected through vehicle heads.

According to Mr. Dinh Cao Thang, all expressways invested by the State currently have parallel national highways. Accordingly, traffic participants have the right to choose to travel on existing national highways or pay tolls to use the expressway to enjoy higher quality of service and benefits.

Road maintenance fees are paid for the maintenance and upkeep of the road system in general, while the collection of highway tolls invested by the State will create financial resources to invest in the construction of other new highways, creating funds for the maintenance and upkeep of toll roads.

"The collection of highway usage fees for vehicles traveling on highways invested, owned, managed and operated by the State does not result in overlapping fees," Mr. Thang affirmed.

Transparent, fair

According to Mr. Dinh Cao Thang, the highway usage fee is determined based on the principle of being consistent with the service quality but not exceeding the benefits obtained and taking into account the value of the service benefits of the highway compared to normal national highways. Especially, the user's ability to pay is carefully calculated.

With the fee rate stipulated in Decree 130/2024, it is expected that after implementing toll collection on the expressways in operation, the expected toll revenue will be 3,636 billion VND/year. The expected budget contribution is 3,399 billion VND, after deducting the toll collection organization cost of 6.5% of the revenue as prescribed.

The collected amount, after deducting the costs of toll collection, will be paid to the State budget and used to pay for construction, upgrading, renovation, management, operation and maintenance of road traffic infrastructure assets according to regulations.

Regarding the collection of tolls on highways invested by the State, Mr. Tran Chung, Chairman of the Association of Traffic Construction Investors, affirmed that for highways, the biggest cost to consider is the cost of construction maintenance. We must periodically inspect and evaluate the health of the construction, then every 5-10 years, we must repair and overhaul to ensure the safety of traffic participants," Mr. Chung said.

"Collecting tolls on state-invested highways is not a one-time fee but a necessary measure to maintain road maintenance funds and develop the next highway system. The fact that people have the right to choose whether or not to use the highway is clear evidence of the transparency and fairness of this policy," said Mr. Chung.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/thu-phi-cao-toc-nha-nuoc-dau-tu-khong-lo-phi-chong-phi-192241019222201604.htm