The Department of Transport has extended the grace period to pay outstanding e-toll invoices, but only to motorists who register for an e-toll account and settle their bill.
The grace period discount for e-toll invoices will only be for the period from December 3, 2013 to February 28, 2014.
According to a statement from the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral), the condition of granting the extension and relief is that road users register an e-toll account and settle the discounted outstanding amounts in full.
The granting of the exemption was gazetted on Monday, May 12, 2014.
“Under this extended post-grace period discount offer, motorists who register an e-toll account and then settle the outstanding invoices for the period December 3, 2013 to February 28, 2014, before July 1, 2014, will only be liable to pay the standard toll tariff for these transactions as opposed to the alternate user rate, which is three times the standard toll tariff,” said Sanral’s chief executive officer, Mr Nazir Alli.
The Minister of Transport, Ms Dipuo Peters decided on the extension of the post-grace period discounts for the specific period because road users were still familiarising themselves with the new system and there were delays in the delivery of invoices due to the postal strike.
The e-toll accounts for registered account holders, who have already paid the Alternative User Tariff for this period, will be credited automatically with the relevant discounts by July 1.
“We want to use this as an opportunity for road users to further familiarise themselves with the system and the options available to them. We would also like to reiterate that the system is a prepaid one and road users can choose not to give their banking details to register an account. The user-pay-principle is an equitable way to pay for the use of the toll roads from which the user derives a benefit that is greater than the fee paid,” said Mr Alli.
He added that it is government’s and Sanral’s desire to serve citizens.
“In the application of the ‘user-pay’ principle, we always look to make charges affordable. Also, we believe it will assist those road users who have fallen behind with their payments to catch up and be compliant,” said Mr Alli.
He added that to enjoy this benefit, the road user “must register an e-toll account or already have an e-toll account before July 1 and must settle their account in full to obtain the discounts.
“We hope road users will take full advantage of this extension of the grace period to settle their accounts at the discounted amount. We are doing this because we have taken note of the fact that some might have unintentionally fallen into arrears because this is a new system they are not familiar with,” said Mr Alli.
