Car owners worry about sticking non-stop toll tags

The Ministry of Transport is implementing a plan to apply non-stop toll collection tags to 2.8 million cars, applying this method to BOT stations on National Highway 1 and National Highway 14 in 2018. Car owners will get free stickers and open a card account, and cars passing through the station will have money automatically deducted from their accounts instead of stopping to buy tickets and pay as is currently the case.

Mr. Nguyen Tuan Anh (Dong Da District, Hanoi) said that a few months ago, when he went to the vehicle inspection, the consultant said that sticking a non-stop toll tag had many benefits, so he did it. Because his job required him to travel a lot, he deposited 5 million VND into his card account. After a while, Mr. Tuan Anh found that he did not need to use this card because there were not many non-stop toll stations on the northern national highways. He was also worried because he left a large amount of money in the card without receiving interest.

Some other car owners also worry about the remaining money in their card accounts, which will be a waste if they do not travel on the highway or travel less.

As the owner of a car rental business, Mr. Do Manh (Hanoi) said: "The business has 10 rental cars, so when I put on the non-stop toll tag, I will have to make a strict contract with the customer to request a refund of all types of fees when the car is traveling on the national highway." According to Mr. Manh, the car rental business will always have to keep a lot of money in the card account and wait for the customer to refund, which is quite inconvenient compared to the current situation where customers pay for the toll fees themselves.

Non-stop toll tags are affixed to vehicle windshields or headlights.

Mr. Nguyen Manh Thang - General Director of OTV Joint Stock Company, commented that the first time the car is free to stick the tag, but from then on, they will have to pay a fee of 120,000 VND each time. "With the characteristics of the tag and the current way of sticking it, it is very easy to damage, moreover, the tag stuck right in the middle of the car's headlight is very offensive, every time you wash the car, if you are not careful, it will be damaged immediately, so it is necessary to reconsider the position of the tag", Mr. Thang said.

Many car owners are concerned that they do not get a discount if they buy a monthly pass like they do now and do not have a receipt to pay if they pay via account.

Responding to the above content, Mr. To Nam Toan - Director of the Department of Science, Technology, Environment and International Cooperation (Vietnam Road Administration), said that, like buying prepaid phone cards, car owners transferring money into the non-stop toll card account will not be charged interest. However, the Ministry of Transport is asking banks to add regulations related to payment for automatic toll collection systems, so that users can be charged interest.

Top-up via account can be done through many channels such as bank card, credit card, phone. Each prepaid account can be used to pay for many means of transport but each means of transport can only receive payment from one account.

In addition, Mr. Toan said, car owners can issue electronic invoices after paying the fee. This invoice is sent to the car owner's email, which has been recognized by the Ministry of Finance for payment like paper invoices. Car owners can buy monthly tickets immediately after registering on the system and receive preferential fees similar to buying regular monthly tickets (fees are lower than buying single-trip tickets).

"When lending or renting a car, the fee is notified by text message and deducted from the car owner's card account, so the car lessor needs to have a civil contract with the renter, clearly stating that road fees must be paid," Mr. Toan suggested.

According to him, non-stop toll collection is being deployed at all BOT stations on National Highway 1 and National Highway 14. The Ministry of Transport has selected two service providers that both use RFID technology; some southern toll stations that are using other technologies have been asked by the Government to switch to RFID technology to integrate a type of card that can be used at all stations.

"The Ministry of Transport is also proposing that the Government require investors of expressways to invest in non-stop toll collection technology to apply nationwide in 2019," said Mr. Toan.

Mr. Nguyen Van Huyen, Director General of the Roads Department, said that BOT project investors have been asked to closely coordinate with state management agencies to quickly implement automatic toll collection. However, there are still BOT investors who do not agree with this policy.

"We are determined to follow the roadmap. If any project is due and does not install non-stop toll collection equipment, we will stop collecting tolls," said Mr. Huyen.i.

VETC automatic toll collection cards are affixed to the windshield or headlights of cars, and are affixed at inspection stations and service provider agencies. Service providers open accounts for vehicle owners, storing information on identity cards, business codes, addresses, phone numbers, emails; identification numbers, and inspection certificates.

Vehicle owners can deposit money into their bank accounts, Internet Banking, through agents authorized by the toll collection service provider, or use scratch cards to deposit money via text message... If the account balance is insufficient, the vehicle owner must be debited and notified to pay within 10 days. After that period, the vehicle will be denied access to road services.