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New e-toll regime is 'smoke and mirrors'

Nicola Mawson
By Nicola Mawson
Johannesburg, 19 Jun 2015
The public will see through the new e-toll regime, says Outa.
The public will see through the new e-toll regime, says Outa.

Gauteng motorists who want to benefit from government's new e-toll dispensation - claimed to be simpler and more affordable - still have to jump through hoops to reap discounted prices for driving on the electronic freeways.

So say commentators, who have analysed the newly gazetted e-toll tariff that comes into effect following deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa's 20 May announcement that e-tolls would become cheaper, while the payment process would be less burdensome.

The new dispensation, which will be implemented once legislation has been amended, sees motorists charged a flat rate of 30c a kilometre, down from 40c. In addition, those who have not paid their bills will get a 60% discount. However, continued failure to settle e-toll accounts will mean motorists will not be able to receive a licence disc when they renew vehicle licences.

However, both Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) chairman Wayne Duvenage and Justice Project of SA chairman Howard Dembovsky argue the new regime is meaningless because, to benefit from the discounted rates, motorists still have a cumbersome payment process to follow. They both refer to it as "smoke and mirrors".

South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) spokesman Vusi Mona argues the new dispensation is being launched in a phased approach and relief to motorists will kick in as each phase is rolled out. He explains the amendments to e-tolls requires software and operational changes that must be thoroughly tested before being implemented.

Mona did not comment on the registration and payment requirements needed before motorists can benefit from the lower rate.

Meaningless

Duvenage says: "Cutting through the amendments to the previously failed scheme, one detects that no meaningful change has been made." Dembovsky notes the new tariff, which drops the cost for all Gauteng freeway users to 30c a kilometre - the same as the amount previously paid by those with e-tags - only applies if certain conditions are met.

To benefit from the discounted rates, users still have to register with Sanral and agree to its 2012 terms and conditions, which Dembovsky notes are only 90% compliant with the Consumer Protection Act. In addition, he says, registered users must either prepay, or "have a payment method acceptable to Sanral linked to their Sanral e-toll account".

Failure to register with Sanral means drivers will be charged the alternate user tariff, which is three times as much as the 30c per kilometre amount, says Dembovsky. ITWeb's calculations show the average cost per gantry on the alternative user rate is R8.24, while registered users pay an average of R2.75. Both average rates have dropped around 48% since the previous gazetted tariffs, which were issued in November 2013.

Too burdensome

Dembovsky adds unregistered users only have seven days to pay to benefit from the 30c a kilometre charge and are not entitled to the capped amount. Should these users pay within 30% of invoice, they will fork out 54c a kilometre, he says.

In addition, notes Dembovsky, Sanral is only giving registered users 30 days to settle their debt to benefit from the discounts, but is only required to issue invoices within 32 days. He adds the 60% discount on outstanding debt has yet to come into effect.

Duvenage notes the "scheme remains administratively cumbersome". "Sanral has simply painted a new coat over the same rusty broken vehicle and tried to sell it as a new car. The public are being taken for fools by this attempted morass of smoke and mirrors."

Dembovsky says road users have been misled over the tariffs as most are unlikely to register on the system, which has previously proven to have security holes, and e-tolls have not become less complicated. He adds Sanral will now be spending 50% as much to bring in the lower tariffs because its costs will double as a result of the tariffs halving.