Vietnam: From March 31, 2022, will the toll booths on the expressway collect tolls in a closed manner?
- What is a toll station?
- What is the open manner? What is a closed manner?
- From 2022, toll stations on expressways will collect tolls in a closed manner?
- What are the operating principles of road toll stations?
- How to implement the toll station management and operation?
- How will toll stations be managed and monitored?
What is a toll station?
According to Clause 1 Article 3 of Circular 45/2021/TT-BGTVT of Vietnam, a road toll station (hereinafter referred to as toll station for short) is a place where the collection of road user service charges is made for vehicles participating in road traffic.
Vietnam: From March 31, 2022, will the toll booths on the expressway collect tolls in a closed manner?
What is the open manner? What is a closed manner?
According to Clause 2 Article 9 of Circular 45/2021/TT-BGTVT of Vietnam, there are two manners of collecting tolls for road traffic use, specifically:
- Open manner is a collection method in which the vehicle owner has to pay a fee at the toll station that does not depend on the length of the distance traveled by the vehicle on the road toll collection, but only depends on vehicle type;
- The closed manner is a collection method in which the vehicle owner has to pay a fee at the toll station based on the length of the vehicle's distance traveled on the road toll collection road and the type of vehicle.
From 2022, toll stations on expressways will collect tolls in a closed manner?
Pursuant to Clause 3 Article 9 of Circular 45/2021/TT-BGTVT of Vietnam, expressway sections; expressway sections are connected to each other; expressways; interlinked expressways are organized into a closed receiver system.
What are the operating principles of road toll stations?
In Article 4 of Circular 45/2021/TT-BGTVT of Vietnam stipulating the operating principles of road toll stations as follows:
- Criteria for establishing road toll stations:
+ Must be placed within the scope of the project (not applicable to the toll collection method specified at Point a, Clause 1, Article 9 of this Circular).
+ Must be approved by the competent authority in the feasibility study report of the investment project or in the project on exploitation of road infrastructure assets.
+ Implement the non-stop electronic form of toll collection and use advanced and modern toll collection technology; other forms of application must be permitted by competent authorities.
+ In the case of a toll station, the return of capital for a public-private partnership project must ensure the investment efficiency of the project.
+ Publicize the location of toll stations on central and local mass media; at the People's Committee of the district or commune where the toll station is located since the competent authority approves it as prescribed at Point a of this Clause.
- Operating principles of road toll stations: Road toll station operations must be public and transparent; ensure the safety and confidentiality of users' personal information, only provide information with the consent of the user or at the request of a competent state agency as prescribed by law.
How to implement the toll station management and operation?
Based on Article 5 of Circular 45/2021/TT-BGTVT of Vietnam, the management and organization of operation of toll booths is carried out as follows:
- For projects built and operated under the mode of public-private partnership, the toll station infrastructure, the Front-End system is the project's item that needs to be built and completed before the project is put into operation and exploitation.
- For projects built and operated in other forms as specified in Clause 1 of this Article, in case the toll collection policy is approved by a competent authority, the toll station infrastructure shall be implemented in the project and completed before it is put into operation. The collection management unit proposes to the competent authority the form of investment.
- For projects in the exploitation stage: The collection management unit proposes the form of collection organization, funding source, and investment form in the Front-End system to the competent authority for decision.
How will toll stations be managed and monitored?
Pursuant to Article 13 of Circular 45/2021/TT-BGTVT of Vietnam, the management and supervision of toll station operations are carried out as follows:
- The toll collection management unit, toll collection operator and toll collection service provider must be responsible for regularly inspecting and monitoring the operation of the toll collection station to ensure that the collection operation is in compliance with regulations; provide sufficient information, data, figures and documents at the request of competent authorities on matters related to supervision, inspection, examination, investigation and handling of matters related to security and traffic safety during the mining process.
- Competent agencies shall manage, inspect and supervise the operation of tollgates by the toll collection management and supervision system or other professional methods and handle violations of tollgate operation according to law, in accordance with the provisions of the contract.
- Toll collection management and supervision system has the role and function of providing information to serve the monitoring of toll collection activities at toll stations as detailed in Appendix 1 issued with according to this Circular.
- The parties: the collection management unit, the collection operator, and the collection service provider are responsible for coordinating, providing and updating information on the collection management and monitoring system at the request of the competent agency.
Circular 45/2021/TT-BGTVT of Vietnam regulating the operation of road toll stations issued by the Minister of Transport will officially take effect from March 31, 2022.
LawNet
