Reduced e-toll tariffs come into effect
JOBURG - The new toll tariffs and monthly caps for registered users were gazetted on 17 June 2015 and are effective from today, 2 July.
This is the first part of the new dispensation which was announced by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa on 20 May.
South African National Road Agency (Sanral) spokesperson, Vusi Mona said, “Government listened to the concerns of lower- and middle-income communities about the impact of transport costs on their budgets, and responded by reducing the tariffs.”
According to Mona, e-toll account holders will be the first to benefit from the new dispensation with reduced tariffs per kilometre and monthly caps on all classes of vehicles. For light vehicles, the monthly cap is now R225 for Sanral account holders – down by 50 percent from the R450 per month that has been levied up until now.
“Existing Sanral account holders can continue managing their account as usual. The system will be automatically adjusted to recognise Sanral account holders,” he said.
Mona said existing payment options will remain in place, and Sanral account holders will continue to have access to a wide range of choices of how to settle their bills. He said the introduction of the lowered standard tariff that is now the same as the e-tag tariff will provide relief to users who are not registered. Mona said, “Because the Government Gazette is a legal instrument, notices must be written in legalese – which is unfortunate as it makes it harder for the layperson to understand and for detractors to further confuse rather than clarify. However, in order to explain the contents of the gazette, and also to explain the phased implementation of the new dispensation, an explanatory memorandum was included in the toll tariff notice gazette.”
He reminded road users that all aspects of the new dispensation on the Gauteng e-toll roads will take place over the next 18 months. “We are working with the department of transport and have already started with the administrative and legal processes to implement the new dispensation. The implementation requires software and operational changes that must be implemented in accordance with best practices. We want to test these changes to the system thoroughly to ensure a smooth transition,” Mona said.
The implementation date of the 60 percent discount on existing debts in arrears, dating back to December 2013, will be announced by the minister of transport, once it becomes available.
Mona said the new dispensation also means that all the administrative and technical loopholes will be closed. Every road user will pay their fair share, while both the national and provincial governments will also make their contributions in accordance with the hybrid funding model that was proposed by the e-toll advisory panel.
View a table of the new e-toll tariffs:
