An eastern section of the North-South Expressway. VNA/VNS Photo

 HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Transport is consulting ministries and Government agencies on collecting tolls at sections of the North-South Expressway built from State capital.

The Ministry plans to collect a maximum toll of VNĐ1,500 per km on eight eastern sections of the North-South Expressway.

These eight eastern sections are Cao Bồ-Mai Sơn, Mai Sơn-Highway No 45, Highway No 45-Nghi Sơn, Nghi Sơn-Diễn Châu, Cam Lộ-La Sơn, Vĩnh Hảo-Phan Thiết, Phan Thiết-Dầu Giây and Mỹ Thuận 2 Bridge.

With a rate from 1,000 to VNĐ1,500 per km depending on the route, after deducting road operation and maintenance costs, the State budget will receive about VNĐ2.1trillion (US$93.47 million) per annum from eight eastern sections of the North-South Expressway during 2025-2030.

This money will help develop more expressway systems, and be spent on maintenance and roads repairs.

On June 7, 2021, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính assigned the Ministry of Transport to urgently create a mechanism on toll collection on roads built from State capital to create capital for transport investment, as well as report to Government agencies to amend and supplement relevant regulations.

The construction of the eastern section of the North-South Expressway was approved by the National Assembly.

The Government issued a resolution to implement 11 sub-projects, including eight using public investment, with total capital of over VNĐ65.2 trillion, and three others under Public-Private Partnership:

According to the ministry, this expected toll rates of VNĐ1,000-1,500 per km for standard vehicles is similar to that on other expressways, and suitable for road users' payment capacity.

Currently, toll rates at some expressways are being collected by the Vietnam Expressway Development Investment Corporation, the Vietnam Infrastructure Development and Finance Investment Joint Stock Company and a number of private investors, with a range from 1,000 to VNĐ2,100 per km for standard vehicles.

There is no regulation on road-use fees collected through toll stations on expressways invested by State capital.

According to the Ministry of Transport, toll collection aiming at recovering capital from State budget-invested expressways can be adjusted to suit socioeconomic policies in each period. However, the toll mechanism needs to be approved by the National Assembly. — VNS