The anticipated furore following the introduction of open-road tolling in Gauteng continues to snowball, with the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance now asking Public protector Thuli Madonsela to get involved.
This comes as complaints pour in from motorists receiving SMSes and e-mails from the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) stating they owe money for e-tolls and will be "handed over" - with many motorists saying amounts are inflated or incorrect. Some have reported receiving "threatening" notifications, despite living in another province or not owning a vehicle at all.
Outa chair Wayne Duvenage says the alliance has received over 500 complaints through its Web site - and hundreds more on its Facebook page - over the past two weeks.
In the wake of what he calls a recent wave of "inexplicable, inaccurate and threatening SMSes from Sanral's collection agents", Outa chair Wayne Duvenage says the alliance has approached the office of the public protector to urgently intervene and "compel Sanral to face up to its critics in a responsible and mature manner".
Duvenage says he expects the public protector process will be underway within a few weeks.
He calls Sanral's behaviour "deplorable", saying as a state-owned enterprise, Sanral and its collection agents appear to be unapologetic. "[They seem] confident that sending threatening SMSes is an adequate method of extorting payment from e-road users, without first offering tax invoices to those that did not register for an e-tag, even though they are legally required to do so.
"One only has to imagine what outrage would exist, in particular from government and general society, should any private company operate as Sanral does in this regard."
Failure to comply
Sanral has in turn defended the inflated amounts its Violations Processing Centre (VPC) is demanding from motorists.
Spokesperson Vusi Mona says people who have received a "huge e-toll bill" have failed to comply with the timeframes stipulated in the enforcement of e-toll violations.
"We want to reiterate that when you register your vehicle and obtain an e-tag, you enjoy the benefit of a 48% discount and other markdowns based on time of day and frequent use. In addition, the maximum amount that you can be charged is R450 per month for an ordinary light motor vehicle. However, when you do not have an e-tag, you do not get all these benefits and if you do not pay within the stipulated seven days, there is an additional cost incurred."
Motorists have reported bills that run into thousands of rand already.
Mona explains how bills mount for road users without an e-tag: "If we take the scenario of a registered road user who has an outstanding balance of R100, his unregistered or register user without an e-tag (vehicle licence number or VLN user), would be expected to pay R192.31 because he would not have the benefit of the 48% discount.
"If the road user (registered or unregistered) fails to pay the within the seven-day grace period, the bill would escalate to R576.93 - the full alternative fee which is payable if 60 days go past. However, if the road user pays 30 days after the grace period, he would get a 60% discount on the R576.93, which would reduce the bill to R230.77.
"The other scenario is that if the road user pays the bill between 30 and 60 days after the seven-day grace period, then they only get a 30% on the R576.92, which would reduce the bill to R403.85."
Mona goes on to warn of the final step in the process: "If a road user fails to pay the R576.92, the offense will be handed over to the prosecuting authority and will be dealt with in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act. Failure to comply with this could result in a criminal record."
He says it is clearly beneficial for a road user to pay their e-toll fees within the seven-day grace period "to avoid receiving a huge bill".
According to Sanral, its fee collection process is divided into three stages: the seven-day grace period, the VPC debt collection process and prosecution under the Criminal Procedure Act.
Share