Tolls should not be collected on state-invested highways.

The Ministry of Transport has just submitted a document requesting the Government to consider and submit to the National Assembly a resolution allowing the collection of fees for using highways invested by the State.

According to the Ministry of Transport, the Law on Fees and Charges currently does not have any regulations on fees for using state-invested highways. The collection of road usage fees according to the price mechanism through toll stations on highways is only implemented for road construction projects for business purposes (BOT projects).

To achieve the target of 5,000km of highway, the estimated need for investment capital by 2030 is about 813,000 billion VND. Of which, the 2021 - 2025 period needs about 393,000 billion VND to complete 2,043km; to start construction of 925km, it will need 239,500 billion VND of state budget.

The Ministry of Transport has just submitted a proposal to consider collecting fees for using highways invested by the State. (Illustration photo: Hoang Ha)

Because the state budget requirement for new highway investment is very large, it is necessary to develop policies to have state budget resources for highway development investment.

In addition, when the highways are completed, maintenance funds are needed to maintain technical conditions. In recent years, for routes managed by the State, the average budget expenditure is about 830 million VND/km/year, which is basically enough to cover the management and operation costs and part of the maintenance costs.

It is expected that by 2025, if 1,624km of expressway invested with the state budget comes into operation, the total estimated cost for management and maintenance in the 2021 - 2025 period will be about VND 9,067 billion (average VND 1,813 billion/year).

Should not be collected in the current context

On the afternoon of August 10, speaking with VietNamNet reporter, economic expert, Associate Professor, Dr. Ngo Tri Long, former Director of the Institute for Price Market Research ( Ministry of Finance ) said that the proposal to collect tolls on highways invested by the State was raised in 2020, but at that time it encountered public reaction so this proposal was not considered.

Mr. Long said that whenever resources are limited while demand is high, we often use measures to increase revenue.

“My point of view is that when our resources are limited, we need to consider whether we are spending them effectively. In the context of ineffective use causing waste and loss, it is unreasonable to want to increase revenue,” Mr. Long expressed.

According to the economic expert, collecting tolls on highways invested by the State will create great pressure on people and businesses, especially in the context of the current economic difficulties, where workers in some places do not have enough wages to live on.

"In this context, it is reasonable to reduce revenue. The Government has also reduced VAT, but now wanting to increase revenue is unreasonable," Mr. Long emphasized.

Mr. Long commented that, in the condition that our competitiveness is still limited, if we continue to increase revenues, including road fees, it will lead to increased input costs. When input costs increase, the price of goods will increase according to transportation costs, and when prices increase, businesses will lose their competitiveness.

The Ministry of Transport believes that the proposal to collect tolls on highways invested by the State has drawn on the experiences of other countries in the world. However, according to Associate Professor, Dr. Ngo Tri Long, even developed, high-income countries like the US do not collect tolls; more recently, countries in the Southeast Asian region also do not collect tolls on highways invested by the government or the State.

“The principle of the financial industry is that if you want to have revenue, you have to nurture and create revenue. In the context of not nurturing, revenue is difficult, but increasing revenue is not reasonable,” Mr. Long stated his opinion.

According to Mr. Long, there will be two groups affected by this policy if approved. Group 1 is vehicles of state agencies and enterprises. At this time, collecting highway fees is just a form of transferring money from one pocket to another.

Group 2 with private enterprises and people, that is their own money spent. “People’s tax money has already contributed to building the road, if we force them to pay again, won’t they be forced to pay the fee twice, fee on fee? Not to mention there is now a road maintenance fee. Therefore, I think we shouldn’t collect tolls on highways invested by the State,” Mr. Long suggested.

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