17 toll stations on highways to be removed from Jan 1

The Transport Ministry will terminate the operation of 17 traffic fee collection stations on a number of national highways starting January 1, 2013.

A road maintenance fee, which will feed the Road Maintenance Fund set up under Decree 18/2012 by the government, will take effect from that day, thus these toll stations will cease operation, the ministry has decided, said Le Dinh Tho, head of the ministry's Vietnam General Department of Roads.

These stations, whose revenue belongs to the State budget, include seven stations on National Highway 1, two on National Highway 19, another two on National Highway 14, as well as additional stations on other highways and bridges.

They are located in Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and some other provinces and cities.

The agency has set up a plan to handle personnel, assets and equipment related to the stations that will be removed.

Accordingly, staff and equipment at these stations will be transferred to other agencies under the Transport Ministry.

Toll tickets that remain unused at these stations will be gathered and handled in accordance with applicable regulations, Tho said.

Meanwhile, toll stations that have been set up under the under BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) traffic infrastructure projects will continue operating for their specified durations after the effective date of the road maintenance fee, he said.