Pretoria - The decision to ease the burden of road users' accumulated e-toll debt in Gauteng does not come at the expense of those who have been paying since the start of the system, according to Vusi Mona, communications manager of the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral).
The recent announcement by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa of the new e-toll plan includes a six-month grace period to make a payment plan to repay debt incurred by use of the system - this comes with a 60% discount.
READ: The seven priciples of the new e-tolls
“We thank the hundreds of thousands of law-abiding vehicle owners who have registered in the past and continued to pay their fair share for the upkeep of our top-class freeway network," Mona said in a statement.
“We can assure you that you are winning all the way with the new dispensation. You have no debt to settle, and even with the 60% discount for those that have not been paying, you would have paid less.”
Mona explained that the new dispensation will not disadvantage those with e-tags. They will continue to benefit through the standardised 30 cents per kilometre tariff, the 50% reduction in monthly caps and the continuation of the time-of-day discount; their annual vehicle licensing renewal will be also be handled without any complications or delays.
“We encourage all vehicle owners in Gauteng to reap the benefits of registering for e-tolls and making the switch towards e-tags,” said Mona.
READ: SA cuts e-toll fees by 50% - as it happened
Here is an example using R10:
(Supplied)
ALSO READ: Ramaphosa: New e-toll dispensation fair