A new regime of exemptions and a 50 per cent fee reduction for commercial vehicles registered in a nearby ward will be applied at the controversial Cần Thơ-Phụng Hiệp toll booth from January 20. – Photo vietnamnet.vn

HÀ NỘI – A new regime of exemptions and a 50 per cent fee reduction for commercial vehicles registered in a nearby ward will be applied at the controversial Cần Thơ-Phụng Hiệp toll booth from January 20.

A proposal to this effect has been approved by the Transport Ministry, Đỗ Hoàng Trung, director of Cần Thơ City’s Information and Communication Department, and announced yesterday.

The announcement followed several days of protests by local drivers and residents, forcing booth owners to let vehicles go through for free.

Under the plan proposed by Cần Thơ City People’s Committee, no toll will be paid by non-commercial vehicles registered in Ba Láng Ward, Cái Răng District, Cái Tắc Township, Hậu Giang Province.

The 50 per cent toll fee reduction would apply to cars of 10 seats or more and lorries with load-carrying capacity of more than one tonne registered in Ba Láng Ward and Cái Tắc Township, provided their owners can produce transportation contracts valid for at least three months showing the vehicles will travel less than 5km.

The toll fee exemption will also apply for: 23 non-commercial vehicles that are not registered in Ba Láng Ward, but whose owners are resident there; and 126 public transportation buses registered in Hậu Giang Province.

Deputy Transport Minister Nguyễn Nhật has asked the Việt Nam Road General Department implement the proposal from January 20.

Earlier, local drivers going through the BOT toll station had protested what they said were high toll fees by refusing to pay or paying in very small denominations that would take a lot of time to count, causing severe traffic jams on the National Highway. 

The protestors paid the toll fees ranging from VND 30,000-180,000 in VNĐ100, VNĐ200 and VNĐ500 notes.

Commenting on the controversy, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Việt Nam, Đào Minh Tú, affirmed yesterday that the VNĐ100, 200 and 500 notes and coins were normal and valid currency.

However, he said that central bank did not support their use as a form of protest at BOT toll stations. VNĐ100 notes are still valid tender and the central bank stands ready to provide them if the economy requires it, Tú said.

“But problems at BOT toll stations need other solutions, not the use of small bank notes by drivers,” he said. – VNS