Fees will be collected for using Nghi Son - Dien Chau expressway and other expressway projects invested by the State.
The new Road Law passed by the National Assembly allows the State to collect highway usage fees from vehicles traveling on highways invested, owned, managed and operated by the State.
On the morning of June 27, at the 7th Session, the 15th National Assembly passed the Road Law, consisting of 6 chapters and 86 articles regulating road activities and State management of road activities.
In particular, in Article 50 on highway usage fees, the Law allows: The State to collect highway usage fees for vehicles traveling on highways invested, owned, managed and exploited by the State, including:
Expressways are invested by the State in the form of public investment. Expressways invested in other forms are transferred to the State when the contract ends.
Regarding the management and use of revenue from highway usage fees, the Road Law stipulates:
The road management agency directly organizing the exploitation of assets shall pay the collected fees to the State budget according to the provisions of law on fees and charges.
The organization receiving the franchise fee collection and business franchise - management must pay the franchise fee as prescribed into the state budget. The fee amount collected during the performance of the transfer contract does not have to be paid into the state budget, except for the revenue portion that must be shared with the state according to the provisions of law.
The Road Law takes effect from January 1, 2025; however, some articles and clauses will take effect earlier, including Article 50 which takes effect from October 1, 2024.
Up to now, toll collection on expressways has only been carried out on sections invested in under the public-private partnership (PPP) model; projects invested by the State do not collect tolls.
Thus, the newly issued Road Law is the legal basis for collecting highway usage fees for vehicles traveling on highways invested, owned, managed and exploited by the State such as: Cao Bo - Mai Son, Mai Son - National Highway 45, National Highway 45 - Nghi Son... which have been put into operation but have not yet collected fees due to lack of legal regulations.
In Nghe An, there are two North-South expressway projects in the East, namely Nghi Son - Dien Chau and Dien Chau - Bai Vot sections, invested in two different methods.
Of which, the Nghi Son - Dien Chau section is 50 km long (Thanh Hoa 6.5 km and Nghe An 43.5 km), with a total investment of 7,293 billion VND from the State budget, so from the temporary operation on September 1, 2023 and the official inauguration on October 18, 2023, there will be no toll collection. However, with the promulgation of the Road Law, in the coming time, vehicles traveling on this expressway section will pay tolls.
The Dien Chau - Bai Vot section has a total length of 49.3 km (Nghe An 44.4 km and Ha Tinh 4.9 km), implemented under the form of public-private partnership (PPP) contract with a total investment of nearly VND 11,158 billion (investor capital is more than VND 5,090 billion; State capital participating in the project is nearly VND 6,068 billion).
On April 28, the Ministry of Transport coordinated with the People's Committees of Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces to open the Dien Chau - Bai Vot Expressway Project (section from Dien Chau to National Highway 46B) with a length of about 30 km passing through the districts of Dien Chau, Nghi Loc, Hung Nguyen of Nghe An province, with the starting point in Dien Cat commune, Dien Chau district connecting with the end point of Nghi Son - Dien Chau Component Project; the lane separation point at the intersection of National Highway 46B in Hung Tay commune, Hung Nguyen district, Nghe An province.
The 19.3 km section from the National Highway 46B intersection, Hung Tay commune, Hung Nguyen district, Nghe An province to the end point in Thanh Binh Thinh commune, Duc Tho district, Ha Tinh province, connecting with the Bai Vot - Ham Nghi expressway project is also expected to be operational at the end of this June.
Since this is a public-private partnership project, there was a toll collection plan from the beginning. The project enterprise was allowed to collect tolls and operate for 16 years, 6 months and 8 days.
On the Dien Chau - Bai Vot section, there will be 3 toll stations located in Nghi Phuong commune, Nghi Loc district and the intersection of National Highway 46B - Hung Tay, Hung Nguyen district, both in Nghe An province and the station located at the intersection of National Highway 8 through Thanh Binh Thinh commune, Duc Tho district, Ha Tinh province.
According to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 44 of the Road Law: Expressway (hereinafter referred to as expressway) is a technical level of road, only for certain types of motor vehicles to participate in traffic according to regulations, with a median strip dividing two separate directions of traffic, not intersecting at the same level with one or more other roads, equipped with protective fences, service equipment, ensuring continuous and safe traffic, shortening travel time, only allowing vehicles to enter and exit at certain points.
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