Gauteng tolls are on their way – and annual increases too.
Current proposals are to cap the annual increases but this could be overturned quite easily.
The draft regulations by the Department of Transport last month specify how tariff increases will work.
“The tariffs and amounts displayed in this notice may be adjusted by a determination of the Minister on 1 March of each year: provided that such adjustment shall not exceed the Consumer Price Index calculated for the preceding 12 months,” said the draft regulations.
EASY TO CHANGE
But regulations are quicker and easier to change than a law; an amendment to a law must go through Parliament but a change in regulations does not.
Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) chairman Wayne Duvenhage believes the regulations will be changed to allow bigger, above-CPI increases.
“This is what we call the thin end of the wedge. That wedge will push the door open,” he said.
The lower tariffs did not make the administrative cost of running the contract any lower, but instead “the less income goes into the tarmac”.
The Department of Transport did not respond to requests for comment on that section of the draft.
The draft regulations were issued on May 24, with 30 days for public comment. They can be found in Government Gazette No 36479 and on Sanral and Outa websites.
Meanwhile, Sanral revealed yesterday that it had won an international award for the GFIP tolling system.
The 2013 Toll Excellence Award for Technology by the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, recognises Sanral’s open-road tolling project. The association said members from 26 countries vied for the awards. -The Star