Drivers win fee reduction at controversial toll booth

About 4,000 owners of vehicles in the northern province of Hung Yen and Hai Phong City will receive a fee exemption or reduction when they travel through two Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) toll stations installed along the National Highway No 5 starting August 1. - VNA/VNS Photo

According to a legal document issued on July 4, vehicles with less than 12 seats and trucks with capacity of less than two tonnes belonging to local residents for non-commercial purposes will receive the fee exemption.

Public buses running on fixed routes in the two localities will also receive the fee exemption.

Organisations and agencies located in areas of the province and the city near the toll stations will get a fee reduction of between 45 and 50 per cent.

The areas in Hung Yen Province eligible for fee exemption and reduction include the communes of Lạc Hong, Trung Trac, Dinh Du, Minh Hai and Nhu Quynh Town in Van Lam District; the communes of Giai Phạm, Nghia Hiep, Dong Than and Ban Yen Nhan Town in My Hao District; and the communes of Nghia Trụ and Vinh Khuc in Van Giang District.

In Hai Phong, the areas include communes of Le Thien, An Hung, Dại Ban, Tan Tien, An Hong, Hong Phong, An Hoa, Nam Son, Bac Son and Le Loi in An Duong District and Quan Toan Ward in Hong Bang District.

Nguyen Van Dieu, head of the BOT toll station in Hung Yen Province’s Nhu Quynh Town, said an additional 1,000 vehicle-owners in the province were finishing their files according to regulations to receive an exemption and reduction in the future.

A representative of the company said the two toll stations’ operator was ordered to update the list of vehicles receiving the fee exemption and reduction every three months.

The decision on the fee exemption and reduction came after many local drivers used small notes to pay the fee at the toll station in Hung Yen Province in order to slow traffic to a crawl and show their opposition to the tolls in late 2017.

The drivers protested because they thought that the toll station was located on the National Highway No 5 to collect fees to pay for the Hanoi–Hai Phong Expressway project was inappropriate. They also said the fee was too high, affecting the lives of local drivers and business activities of local transport companies.

National Highway No 5, connecting Hanoi with the ports of the north-eastern coastal city of Hai Phong, is also a part of the Asian Highway AH14 passing through three countries – Vietnam, China and Myanmar. Drivers have to pay a fee from VNĐ40,000–180,000 (US$1.7-7.7) each time they pass through the highway.

It is estimated that about 15,000-16,000 vehicles run through the highway daily.