VietNamNet Bridge – A new regime of exemptions and a 50 per cent fee reduction for commercial vehicles registered in a nearby ward will be applied at the controversial Can Tho-Phung Hiep toll booth from January 20.

A new regime of exemptions and a 50 per cent fee reduction for commercial vehicles registered in a nearby ward will be applied at the controversial Can Tho-Phung Hiep toll booth from January 20. – Photo vietnamnet.vn

A proposal to this effect has been approved by the Transport Ministry, Do Hoang Trung, director of Can Tho City’s Information and Communication Department, and announced yesterday.

The announcement followed several days of protests by local drivers and residents, forcing booth owners to let vehicles go through for free.

Under the plan proposed by Can Tho City People’s Committee, no toll will be paid by non-commercial vehicles registered in Ba Lang Ward, Cai Rang District, Cai Tac Township, Hau Giang Province.

The 50 per cent toll fee reduction would apply to cars of 10 seats or more and lorries with load-carrying capacity of more than one tonne registered in Ba Lang Ward and Cai Tac Township, provided their owners can produce transportation contracts valid for at least three months showing the vehicles will travel less than 5km.

The toll fee exemption will also apply for: 23 non-commercial vehicles that are not registered in Ba Lang Ward, but whose owners are resident there; and 126 public transportation buses registered in Hau Giang Province.

Deputy Transport Minister Nguyen Nhat has asked the Viet Nam Road General Department implement the proposal from January 20.

Earlier, local drivers going through the BOT toll station had protested what they said were high toll fees by refusing to pay or paying in very small denominations that would take a lot of time to count, causing severe traffic jams on the National Highway. 

The protestors paid the toll fees ranging from VND30,000-180,000 in VND100, VND200 and VND500 notes.

Commenting on the controversy, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, Dao Minh Tu, affirmed yesterday that the VND100, 200 and 500 notes and coins were normal and valid currency.

However, he said that central bank did not support their use as a form of protest at BOT toll stations. VND100 notes are still valid tender and the central bank stands ready to provide them if the economy requires it, Tu said.

“But problems at BOT toll stations need other solutions, not the use of small bank notes by drivers,” he said. 

Source: VNS