New e-toll tariffs from 11 March

Toll fees on the inner Gauteng highways will be adjusted for inflation this coming Friday (March 11). This will be the first e-toll adjustment since its inception in December 2013 and will be lower than the current annual inflation rate.

For the past 30 years toll fees are adjusted every March in line with the Consumer Price Index. This first adjustment for e-tolls will mean that monthly caps will also change. For a light motor vehicle it will go up from R225 to R236, explains Alex van Niekerk, Manager: Planning, Toll & Transport of the South African National Roads Agency SOC Ltd (SANRAL).

The cap refers to the maximum monthly toll fee which is applicable to registered road users – whether tagged or not.

For motorcycles the new cap will be R130, for small heavy motor vehicles R915 and for large heavy vehicles R3 035.

The adjustment is minimal at 4.675%, says Van Niekerk. It compares well with other entities where the user-pay principal is the basis of operations – such as DSTV where the cost increase is 8% or Eskom where it is 9.4%. The e-toll cost for a registered road user driving a light motor vehicle from Pretoria Central to the OR Tambo International Airport via the N1 and R21 will go up by only 50 cent.

To put it in perspective: for 50 cent you can send an SMS, drive 700 metres at the current fuel price and take two sips of a soft drink in a restaurant. (These calculations are estimates.)

Added Van Niekerk: “The 60% discount window for the e-toll debt run up between December 2013 and August last year is still valid – but only until midnight on 2 May. Make use of it. The savings are huge. On an outstanding bill of R1 000 you can save R600 and pay the rest off as you are able.

“It is important to note that if you don’t have an e-tag, you have to register for the monthly cap to be applicable to you.”