BOT investors are not required to cooperate with VECT to collect automatic tolls.

According to the General Department of Roads, as of August 31, out of a total of 27 stations negotiating to sign contracts, 25 stations have completed signing contracts with the investor, Automatic Toll Collection Company Limited - VETC.

Toll collection on Phap Van - Cau Gie expressway.

However, up to now, there are still two investors who have not signed the contract: the joint venture of Thi Son Production and Construction Company Limited - Construction Investment Consulting and Trading Joint Stock Company, the investor of the Can Tho - Phung Hiep BOT project and Construction Investment Joint Stock Company 194, the management unit of the Cam Thinh - Khanh Hoa BOT project.

Explaining the delay in signing the contract for non-stop automatic toll collection with VECT investor, representatives of the two above-mentioned units said that there are two main reasons, the first is the transparency of revenue collection and management of BOT. The second is about service price, there is no basis for VECT investor to take 50% of the collection organization management fee.

“If there is only one unit providing non-stop automatic toll collection services, namely VETC Automatic Toll Collection Company Limited, will competition and fairness be ensured?”, the representative of the BOT investor Can Tho - Phung Hiep, raised concerns.

According to Decision No. 4390 approved by the Ministry of Transport, the non-stop automatic toll collection project (phase 1) applied to 27 toll stations on Ho Chi Minh road through the Central Highlands and National Highway 1, the Tasco - VETC joint venture was appointed by the Ministry of Transport as the investor with a total investment of more than 1,500 billion VND, under the form of a BOO contract ((Build - Own - Operate).

However, according to expert Ngo Tri Long, bidding is only appropriate for the field of national security and defense. According to market principles, bidding for BOO projects in non-stop toll collection leads to a lack of transparency in cost control. Therefore, bidding is necessary to prevent negative benefits and price competition.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Nguyen Van Huyen, General Director of the Vietnam Road Administration, said that in 2015, the Government decided to select the non-stop toll collection service provider VETC. However, to ensure competition, transparency and the ability for BOT investors to choose, the Ministry of Transport still announced a public invitation for bids, but after nearly a year, only one service provider, VETC Automatic Toll Collection Company Limited, registered to participate.

Therefore, the Ministry of Transport has selected this investor to ensure progress according to the Government's direction.

“After the project is implemented, the Ministry of Transport will continue to invite service providers. Any qualified provider can register to participate, so there is no monopoly,” Mr. Huyen affirmed.

In response to concerns that the 27 projects had only one investor, whether there was a lack of transparency or collusion in modifying software to distort data, Mr. Huyen affirmed that this could not be the case.

In the contract signed between the BOT investor and VETC, there are binding terms such as: Toll collection money must be transferred immediately at the end of the day to the bank, VETC must have a deposit equal to at least 3 days of toll collection. Any service provider must guarantee the project for the lifetime, so there is no fear of collusion, software cannot be changed because if the data is wrong, compensation will be 30 times, 5 times wrong will be kicked out of the project, one fine per year, another unit will be brought in.

According to Mr. Huyen, by 2017, there were many other service providers such as Viettinbank, Viettel, VNPT and Cadpro for BOT investors to choose from. If the service provider is weak, it will be replaced immediately. “The Ministry of Transport always opens its doors to qualified non-stop toll collection service providers,” he affirmed.

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According to the Director General of the General Department of Roads, there will be up to 6 components that can control toll collection, namely the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Public Security, BOT investors, service providers and vehicle owners.

Non-stop toll collection data from service providers will be transmitted to the General Department of Roads system for storage and monitoring. “Any unit can provide it, but service prices must be negotiated and interconnected. The Ministry of Transport does not require BOT investors to sign with any service provider,” Mr. Huyen added.

The Ministry of Transport only sets standards for service providers, on this basis BOT investors have the right to choose or organize bidding to select the best non-stop toll collection service provider for themselves.

However, the condition is that the supplier must be examined and approved by the Ministry of Transport and the investor must be responsible for connecting to the General Department's system. At the same time, it is mandatory to connect to the toll station management center under the BOO contract for the General Department to monitor.

“It is impossible for BOT investors to manage the non-stop toll collection system themselves. The government has a policy to have the supplier supervise, then all data will be transmitted to the General Department of Roads for management, there is no such thing as a third party managing as investors worry,” said Mr. Huyen.

According to Kieu Linh/vneconomy