Ministry of Transport decides to apply non-stop toll collection tags to 2.8 million cars

At the conference on non-stop toll collection implementation on March 16, Mr. Nguyen Van Huyen - General Director of Roads Department said that the Prime Minister has decided that by September, all toll stations on National Highway 1 and National Highway 14 will collect non-stop tolls.Up to now, there have been 19 BOT stations on this route collecting non-stop tolls in 2 lanes, with 6 more stations to be implemented in March.

"The Ministry of Transport is striving to apply non-stop toll collection tags to 2.8 million cars nationwide this year. Currently, only about 500,000 cars have been applied with the tags, so the remaining volume is relatively large," said Mr. Huyen.

The Automatic Toll Collection Company (VETC) - the investor issuing the cards, said it will stick free cards on vehicles at toll stations, inspection centers and at businesses with a large number of vehicles.

"We call on businesses and people to stick non-stop toll collection tags, thereby contributing to transparency in BOT fee management, helping authorities use technology to monitor toll stations and avoid negativity," said Mr. Huyen.

In addition, the Ministry of Transport is drafting legal documents stipulating that operating vehicles must have accounts for road toll collection and violation handling.

According to Mr. To Van Toan, Director of International Cooperation Department (General Department of Roads), the non-stop toll collection method has many advantages over manual collection. Vehicles passing through the station save time, only taking 0.2 seconds compared to 5 seconds to several minutes when collecting manually; reducing fuel consumption and environmental pollution.

"More importantly, the toll collection is transparent. The entire amount is recorded in the system, users know how much they have to pay, and the management agency can monitor the revenue and the number of vehicles at the stations. The system can also record information to detect fake license plates, expired vehicle registrations, and traffic violations...", Mr. Toan said.

At a recent meeting, Transport Minister Nguyen Van The said he would ask the Government for permission to implement non-stop toll collection on all national highways and expressways. He also asked the relevant authorities to provide specific guidance on the implementation of the non-stop toll collection decision and propose sanctions for those who deliberately violate or fail to implement this policy.