BOT fees are not commensurate with people's income.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment said that in recent years, there has been an explosion of investment in the form of BOT contracts in the transport sector, contributing greatly to the implementation of the policy of socializing investment to continue developing transport infrastructure in the context of limited state budget. However, along with that wave of investment is a series of BOT toll stations springing up densely, with different toll rates in each place, and in some places the toll rates are not commensurate with people's ability to pay.

Ben Thuy II Bridge Toll Station (Vinh City). Photo: PV

The Ministry of Planning and Investment believes that revenue loss for BOT projects is essentially of two types: first is revenue loss compared to expected revenue (for example: traffic volume is not as surveyed, forecasted, etc.) or also known as passive revenue loss; second is revenue loss compared to actual service usage (for example: manual operations lacking transparency causing loss of toll revenue, etc.) or also known as active revenue loss. On that basis, the Ministry of Planning and Investment proposes a group of solutions for each issue to control and avoid revenue loss at BOT projects.

Regarding planning solutions, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Transport, localities need to review and study the planning of the transport infrastructure network to determine which routes need BOT investment and which routes can be invested with budget capital. In particular, it is necessary to focus on only approving BOT investment on routes with parallel roads to ensure the right of choice for people. On that basis, complete and announce the planning of BOT toll stations nationwide. The construction and operation of BOT toll stations in accordance with the planning, if well implemented nationwide, is the premise for proactively allocating reasonable traffic volume, controlling diversion and thereby limiting revenue loss.

Ben Thuy Bridge Toll Station

Regarding policy and legal solutions, it is necessary to supplement legal regulations on toll stations being located within the project scope to eliminate the case of construction in one place - toll collection in another place. This will ensure relative fairness when customers do not have to pay for services they do not use. In addition, it is necessary to clarify the basis for developing the fee framework according to Circular No. 159/2013/TT-BTC and the basis for issuing separate circulars on toll rates for each toll station to limit the mechanism of asking and giving. Develop and apply reasonable toll rates in relation to each route. For example, on the same route or on routes with similar scale and technical standards, it is possible to study and develop typical toll rates based on the length of the invested section (VND/km x km invested).

At that time, investors can predict more accurately the toll level before making the investment, and people also feel treated more fairly when traveling through different sections on the same route.

In addition, the law can be amended to require investors to complete the settlement of total investment capital before collecting fees. Then, the time for collecting fees and the fee level calculated based on the total settled investment capital will more accurately reflect the investment efficiency. These solutions are aimed at avoiding public outrage, which can lead to large gatherings and blocking of vehicles in protest as at some toll stations in the past, paralyzing toll collection activities and causing loss of fees.

For the group of technology solutions, certainly, promoting the application of advanced technology and limiting manual work in toll collection will contribute to reducing toll revenue loss. For example, for newly built routes, in favorable cases, it is possible to apply the form of closed toll collection and use magnetic cards. At that time, it will ensure fairness because customers only pay the exact cost for the scale of service they use (actual kilometers traveled), while accurately controlling traffic and revenue based on recorded data.

However, in the current situation, the form of closed toll collection and the use of magnetic cards can only be applied in certain sections (such as the Phap Van - Cau Gie section). Most BOT projects are to renovate and upgrade existing routes, with many level crossings, so open toll collection is required. Therefore, it is necessary to soon have a roadmap to apply non-stop toll collection technology. With this technology, toll payments are made through the customer's traffic toll collection account and all transactions will be managed through the bank. This will save costs in the total investment capital of the BOT project, while improving transparency and preventing toll loss.

Finally, for the group of solutions on improving management and supervision capacity, it is necessary to understand that investors always have conflicts of interest with toll payers and from a business perspective, investors tend to maximize profits on the invested capital. Therefore, when assigning investors to collect fees, even if they have done well in terms of planning, legal policies or technology, the authorities still need to improve their capacity to be able to manage, closely monitor and remove obstacles in the process of collecting tolls to recover capital. Only then can toll collection ensure objectivity, continuity and efficiency, avoiding fee losses.

In addition, there needs to be a communication solution. This is a solution that the Ministry of Planning and Investment believes cannot be overlooked, but on the contrary, needs to be strongly implemented in the coming time. A correct policy needs the understanding and support of public opinion from the beginning until implementation and completion. In the recent period, the work of orienting public opinion has not been done well. Investors, often seen as greedy and selfish, will lack inspiration and determination to invest.

Customers, often feeling frustrated and suffocated by the matrix of BOT toll stations, will react by either choosing cheaper options for themselves even though they are more costly for society (if there is a choice in using the service), or limiting their own travel (if there is no other choice in using the service).

The Ministry of Transport said that through practical implementation and discussions with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, it can be seen that it is very difficult to prepare bidding documents for PPP projects and BOT contracts without the participation of State capital. For these projects, the most suitable criterion for evaluating bids and selecting investors is the time for collecting tolls to recover capital. The Ministry of Transport has reported to the Prime Minister to allow the use of the time for collecting tolls to recover capital as a criterion for selecting investors to implement PPP projects and BOT contracts in the transport sector without the participation of State capital.

Red River