‘Time running out for e-tolls non-payment’

Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) chief operations officer Mark Ridgway Ridgway said, “In line with the new dispensation, a discount of 60 percent was offered by the deputy president [Cyril Ramaphosa] to those road users who settled their outstanding debt incurred prior to 1 September 2015 [historic debt]. The time left to ensure this discount is taken advantage of is fast running out.

“Those road users that have not responded will be subjected to ongoing collection activity, listing of their vehicles and civil action. There should be no misunderstanding around these possible consequences.”

He revealed that the current outstanding public debt resulting from non-payment of e-tolls was legally owing and needed to be collected. Ridgway said experts have been engaged to employ the skill sets necessary to ensure that best efforts were made in collecting these outstanding monies.

“A task force has been established and given that the holiday period is over, efforts around these collections are being amplified. To this end, ITC Business Administrators has been contracted to provide outsourced additional resource infrastructure to support the task force operation and debt recovery exercise,” Ridgway said.

He said it was an offence to not pay tolls – as such non-paying road users must be prepared for vehicle listing, ongoing and substantial collection activity and legal action. He added that the collection of these outstanding monies had merely entered the next phase in accordance with the current laws of South Africa.

“Protests about the employment of experts to ensure maximum effort is expended in the collection of these delinquent debts carry no weight, and as such road users need to assess the risk as the consequences of non-payment rests with them,” he said.

Road users were invited to engage with the entity to ensure that their 60 percent discount was claimed.

Details: 087 353 1490 or www.less60.co.za