E-tolls deemed grossly inefficient and unworkable
Opposition To Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) says that the e-tolling project, implemented on Gauteng’s freeways in December, is “grossly inefficient, largely unworkable and difficult to enforce”.
Outa said the extent and intensity of the complaints it has received from the public and businesses demonstrates that Sanral’s e-toll systems are under pressure and relying on inaccurate or meaningless data.
The lobby group says the examples it has been shown indicate that Sanral’s complaint lines and call centers are struggling to cope with the calls and queries they are being bombarded with.
All of this against a backdrop of earlier comments from Sanral that they have been “operating and testing the system for the past two years” gives rise to serious concerns about the robustness and workability of the system, Outa said in a statement on Wednesday (15 January).
It also voiced its concern regarding the growing incidents of debt and debt-rescue cases arising as a result of e-tolling.
Neil Roets, CEO of debt management firm, Debt Rescue, pointed to a sharp increase in the number of deeply indebted consumers following the introduction of toll fees.
Roets said the last two weeks had seen nearly double the number of clients seeking help, compared to the same period last year.
“In the majority of cases it was mounting toll fees and the aggressive attitude of Sanral’s collections department that scared consumers into seeking help,” he said.
“Many medium to smaller businesses are simply unable to absorb the high costs of e-tolls incurred by their fleets of vehicles which traverse the length and breadth of the region. In a number of instances, many businesses have simply had to pass these costs on to the consumer and the public are reluctantly on the receiving end of the stick, Outa said.
It accused Sanral and the authorities of playing down the concerns of additional costs for fleet owners, who now have to employ extra staff and systems to manage the e-toll bills, erroneous charges, cloned number plates, billing discount errors, faulty and missing tags.
“As we have said in the past, laws and regulations are only as good as they are governable” said John Clarke, Outa spokesperson, “and this specific e-tolling project is grossly inefficient, largely unworkable and difficult to enforce.”
“The administration costs will more than likely outweigh the collection income and the system will eventually collapse, as it has in so many other instances and countries around the world with similar (even lesser) challenges”.
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