HÀ NỘI — Toll at a booth in the central province of Bình Thuận has been reduced from Tuesday following objection from local residents in the past weeks.

Details of toll reduction at the Sông Phan toll booth, located along National Highway 1A in Hàm Minh Commune, were submitted to the Bình Thuận People’s Committee on Monday.

Toll has been reduced from VNĐ35,000 (US$1.5) to VNĐ15,000 ($0.6) for non-commercial vehicles (not used for transporting goods or passengers) with less than 12 seats and trucks weighing less than two tonnes, while for 12-30 seater non-commercial vehicles and trucks weighing 2-4 tonnes, the toll has been reduced from VNĐ50,000 to VNĐ25,000.

For commercial vehicles, toll has been reduced from VNĐ35,000 to VNĐ20,000 for vehicles with less than 12 seats and trucks weighing less than two tonnes, and from VNĐ50,000 to VNĐ30,000 for vehicles with 12-30 seats and trucks weighing 2-4 tonnes.

Sông Phan toll booth authorities were forced to allow free passage of all vehicles on January 6 and 13 after drivers refused to pay toll.

Drivers from the Hàm Minh and Hàm Cường communes, located within a 5km radius of the booth, refused to pay toll and caused traffic congestion on January 6.

A toll reduction policy was introduced on January 10, which reduced the toll by 40-50 per cent for drivers from these two communes and a part of the adjacent Thuận Nam Town located within a 5km radius of the booth, the Vietnamnet online newspaper reported.

But on January 13, several drivers from those parts of Thuận Nam Town where the policy was not applicable started to protest, which lasted until January 15. — VNS