Sanral says e-toll complaints valid
The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has confirmed that it has received a number of “valid complaints” relating to its much-maligned e-toll system.
The system went live on Gauteng’s freeways on 3 December 2013 and has attracted a fair amount of complaints, mostly due to inaccurate billing.
Sanral spokesman Vusi Mona earlier this month cited “genuine” complaints about the system.
“There are genuine customer complaints. There is no system that is foolproof and 100% correct, Mona said, adding that there were not a large number of such complaints.
In a statement to BusinessTech, Mona said that number of complaints received since toll commencement to 10 January 2014 is 2% of total registered account units. He did not say how many accounts there were, however.
The number of valid complaints however, he put at 12% of that 2% of registered account units.
“We would like to assure road users that we take their concerns seriously and are making every effort to deal with their complaints,” Mona said.
DA
The Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Wednesday, that it has received over 300 e-toll billing complaints from the public since a call last week to submit queries to the political party.
The DA said it aims to submit a list of complaints to the National Consumer Commission.
Some of the more bizarre complaints we have received include:
- A resident in the Western Cape who has not traveled on Gauteng’s roads since the implementation of e-tolling. She has received two invoices to date, one of which was for a motorcycle, when in fact her only vehicle is a Corsa Lite car;
- A resident who received an SMS from Sanral to say that he owes R00.00 and has been handed over to the VPC;
- People who do not even own a vehicle or have a drivers licence receiving SMSes from Sanral with outstanding debt. One of these SMSes was for an amount of R1362,63;
- Many people have received a final SMS warning without having received an official invoice;
- Gauteng residents who do not travel on tolled roads are receiving SMSes for final pay notices from Sanral.
The DA says that most common complaints are people not receiving invoices, incorrect amounts for actual travel and bills going to people who have not travelled recently. “It is clear that the billing system is not working,” said Mmusi Maimane, DA Gauteng Premier Candidate.
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