Motorists might be able to claim e-toll refunds because a Government Gazette notice about the charges indicates conflicting amounts.
This is according to a statement released by the Justice Project South Africa (JPSA) on December 18.
According to the statement, e-tolling tariff notices published in the Government Gazette contain different e-toll charges in the English and Afrikaans versions. This may render the e-tolling regulations invalid and may entitle motorists to claim a refund of e-tolls paid.
“Sanral and the Department of Transport have been entirely uncooperative with our requests for clarity on the enforcement process, instead referring us to the regulations,” said JPSA chairman, Howard Dembovsky.
“In the process of reviewing the various notices, we found that there are discrepancies between the English and the Afrikaans versions of the tariff notice published on November 19, 2013. Both the tariff notices were signed by the Acting Director General of the Department of Transport and therefore have equal, but conflicting weight,” added Mr Dembovsky.
“Effectively, the tariffs applicable to registered VLN and ‘alternative users’ differ in the English and Afrikaans versions and this introduces severe interpretation issues ,” said Mr Dembovsky.
The JPSA has called on the department to immediately repeal the offending Tariff Gazette and has asked that the department instruct Sanral to stop levying and collecting e-tolls until the matter was corrected. According to SANRAL, nearly 900 000 e-tags had been issued.
