E-toll costs may come down: report

E-tags may become compulsory, with no plans to scrap e-tolls – but the maximum cap on bills may also be coming down, according to a Power FM report.
The radio station claimed on Friday, 9 January, that it had seen part of Gauteng premier David Makhura’s e-toll report, and suggested that cars may even be fitted with e-tags before leaving their respective dealerships.
The report was given to Makhura at the end of last year following a review panel’s investigation of the socio-economic impact of the tolling system. Makhura is yet to make the report public.
At the time, ANC insiders said that the panel recommended e-tolls be scrapped in the province.
However, according to PowerFM the report suggests a number of options, among them making e-tags compulsory and forcing dealers to fit them to cars before they are sold.
Power FM also said that the report talks about the reduction of the maximum bill registered e-toll users will face every month.
Currently the caps are R450 per month for light passenger vehicles, R250 for motorcycles, R1,750 for small trucks, and R3,000 for heavy vehicles.
Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance chairman Wayne Duvenage was called for an interview during the segment and told PowerFM that it is problematic to look at suggestions that may have been made in the report outside of the context of the report as a whole.
Duvenage said that just as the report may be suggesting that e-tolls be made compulsory it probably also suggests that an additional fuel levy could be used to finance the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project instead of open road tolling.
The Power FM broadcast is embedded below.
This article was first published on MyBroadband.