Submit to the Government a Draft Decree on toll collection on state-invested highways

Tolls are only collected when the route meets expressway conditions.

The draft Decree regulating the collection of highway usage fees to guide the Road Law has just been passed by the National Assembly.

Accordingly, the Draft Decree consists of 4 chapters and 13 articles stipulating the conditions and time for collecting highway usage fees; the collection, payment, exemption, management and use of highway usage fees; and the rates of highway usage fees under the management of the Ministry of Transport.

The issuance of the decree aims to complete the legal basis, clearly stipulate the types and subjects of fee collection, and implementation plans to ensure feasibility, publicity and transparency.

Regarding the conditions and implementation time, the Draft clearly states: Toll collection will only be carried out after the expressway has been designed and invested in according to the technical standards and regulations on expressways and other relevant technical standards and regulations. The expressway has completed construction and put into operation and use according to the provisions of the law on construction.

For expressway projects with investment decisions made before the effective date of the Road Law, if they do not fully meet the prescribed requirements when put into operation, toll collection will be implemented after the completion of construction and installation of toll station infrastructure, software systems, equipment for toll collection; public service works at rest stops; technical infrastructure, technological equipment for traffic management and operation.

The agency assigned to manage the expressway must prepare a Project for asset exploitation and submit it to the competent authority for approval. The time of toll collection and the toll collection route are specifically determined in the Project.

The management and operation of the expressway uses the existing human resources of the transport sector. Therefore, there is no need for human resources to implement the decree.

The fee is lower than the benefits people enjoy when traveling on the highway.

Annual revenue of more than 3,200 billion VND for the budget

Regarding the fee level, the Ministry of Transport said that the Draft Decree stipulates the fee level for highways that fully meet the regulations on conditions for implementing toll collection at level 1 (highways with 4 or more lanes, with continuous emergency lanes).

Level 2 applies to expressway projects that have been decided on investment policies before the effective date of the Road Law, but when put into operation, do not fully meet the prescribed requirements.

Specific fees are as follows:

Fee schedule proposed by the Ministry of Transport

With the proposed fee level in the draft decree, it is expected that after implementing toll collection on the expressways in operation, the expected toll revenue will be 3,210 billion VND/year.

Explaining the proposed fee level, the Ministry of Transport said that the fee level is determined to basically cover the costs of management, organization, operation, toll collection, and maintenance of the highway. This includes taking into account the State's socio-economic development policy, ensuring publicity, transparency, and being calculated based on the interests of users.

The collection level is determined to ensure the collection level principles are built on the basis of the law on fees and charges, must deduct related taxes and fees collected, avoid duplicate collection of fees. Expressway users share benefits with the state, the collection level must be lower than the benefits received by expressway users.

Also according to the Ministry of Transport, analyzing the state-invested expressways before 2020, which are being or are about to be put into operation, the results of quantifying the operating costs and time costs of vehicles show that compared to traveling on parallel national highways, vehicles traveling on expressways will benefit an average of 4,824 VND/vehicle/km.

Of this, 25% comes from savings in vehicle operating costs and 75% from savings in time spent on the road for goods and passengers.

The vehicle type that receives the greatest benefit is a passenger car with 30 seats or more, with an average of more than 14,000 VND/vehicle/km, the vehicle that receives the least benefit is a truck under 2 tons, with an average benefit of 1,174 VND/km. The average benefit per vehicle unit is 2,616 VND/PCU/km.

The fee is calculated and analyzed based on the benefits of vehicle owners when traveling on those highways. At the same time, taking into account the sharing of benefits of highway users, the cost is equivalent to 50-70% of the benefits obtained when using the highway.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/trinh-chinh-phu-du-thao-nghi-dinh-thu-phi-cao-toc-do-nha-nuoc-dau-tu-192240816214708739.htm