PHÚ THỌ — Tam Nông toll station on National Route 32 passing through Tam Nông District has temporarily halted collection of toll following protests by locals and coach operators who felt the amount was “too high.”

BOT Hùng Thắng Co Ltd, investor of the Build-Operate-Transfer project to build a part of Hồ Chí Minh Road and upgrade a section of National Route 32, made the decision on Tuesday after a meeting with Phú Thọ Province’s People’s Committee. The Tam Nông toll station aims to collect fees as payback for the company’s investment.

Nguyễn Xuân Hải, director of the company, told online newspaper VietnamPlus on Wednesday morning that the two sides had agreed on a new proposal to submit to competent State agencies to ensure benefits for locals passing through the toll station.

Earlier, on Monday morning, locals blocked the toll station with some 20 vehicles, leading to traffic congestion of about 1km.

They claimed toll fees of VNĐ35,000 – 50,000 (US$1.5 – 2.2) per vehicle was too high as National Route 32 was only an upgrade of the old route.

Thirty-six coach operators operating on the route from Thanh Sơn (Phú Thọ Province) to Mỹ Đình (Hà Nội) also sent a petition to the Phú Thọ People’s Committee and other responsible authorities calling for a recalculation of the toll fees.

Earlier, MoT had already rejected a proposal by Phú Thọ provincial authorities to reduce the toll for locals, saying that the Ministry of Finance, which is authorised to made the decision, did not approve the solution. — VNS