HÀ NỘI — The Directorate for Roads of Việt Nam has proposed the transport ministry inspect fee collection at the toll station on Pháp Vân-Cầu Giẽ expressway, the southern gateway to Hà Nội, to prevent loss of fees.

The move was made following recent toll collection supervision at the station which found that total collection increased.

The supervision period was conducted over ten days, from July 10 to July 20.

Earlier this year, inspections supervised toll collection at the station following reports of alleged fraud committed by employees. They allegedly collected tolls from drivers at rates lower than those specified by the State without giving tickets to the drivers so that they could pocket the money.

The 10-day inspection discovered an increase of up to VNĐ700 million (US$31,400) each day in comparison with the amount collected before the supervision. 

However, a representative from the joint investor of the upgrade project on the Pháp Vân-Cầu Giẽ Expressway explained that the increase resulted from more vehicles using the expressway.

The station is managed by the Việt Nam Infrastructure Development and Finance Investment Joint Stock Company.

The Directorate for Roads of Việt Nam also proposed the transport ministry to inspect all toll collection tasks at the station from the first day of fee collection.

The fees will be collected for 17 years and three months, starting from October last year, after the upgrade of the Pháp Vân-Cầu Giẽ highway was completed on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis.

The upgrade in the first phase of the two-phase project, with total capital of more than VNĐ6.7 trillion ($315 million), includes a revamp of the current four-lane, 25m-wide road. The second phase, worth more than VNĐ4.7 trillion ($223 million), involves the expansion of the four-lane highway to a six-lane one, with a width of 33.5m.

It also asked the ministry to soon approve a master plan to increase supervision and transparency in toll collection in road projects managed by the ministry. The plan will focus on building fee collection and supervision software and complete related legal documents and regulations.

The ministry has required all investors of expressway projects to save data on the images of the number of vehicles going through toll stations for at least five years to serve inspection tasks when necessary. — VNS