Final E-toll prices revealed

Acting director-general of the Department of Transport, Mawethu Vilana, recently published the final tariffs for Gauteng’s E-toll roads in the Government Gazette.

The regulation gazette, dated 19 November 2013, also said that the Minister of Transport determined, on the recommendation of the South African National Roads Agency SOC Ltd (Sanral), that tolls will be payable from 3 December 2013.

These final regulations come after a period of public comment on the proposed E-toll tariff scheme, which the Department of Transport announced in the Gazette on 9 October 2013.

The period for public comment closed on 8 November 2013.

Eyewitness News reported that Sanral CEO Nazir Alli told media on Wednesday, 20 November 2013, that they received 1,080 comments in this last round of consultation.

A quick comparison of the final regulations to the original proposed E-toll tariffs reveals no obvious differences, however.

The below table summarises the tariffs applicable to light vehicles and motorcycles:

According to Sanral, the per-gantry prices are calculated using the following per-kilometre rates:

• Class A1 (motorcycles): 35c/km standard, 18c/km e-Tagged;
• Class A2 (light vehicles): 58c/km standard, 30c/km e-Tagged;
• Class B (medium heavy): 145c/km standard, 75c/km e-Tagged; and
• Class C (large heavy): 290c/km standard, 150c/km e-Tagged.

What happens if you don’t register and pay?

Sanral classifies users into four categories, as follows:

• Registered e-tag user: has fitted an e-tag and registered an E-toll account;
• Non-registered e-tag user: has fitted an e-tag, but not registered an account;
• Registered VLN user: has registered an account, but not fitted an e-tag; and
• Alternate user: everyone else, including users whose accounts are not up-to-date.

Sanral spokesman, Vusi Mona, previously provided a description of the e-toll payment and prosecution process:

• Although the toll system is a pre-paid system, a road user has a seven-day grace period, from a gantry pass , to pay their e-toll transactions;
• If the e-toll transaction is not paid within seven days, it is transferred to the Violations Processing Centre (the section of e-toll operations that deals with overdue toll amounts);
• Due to the user’s status as an Alternative User, discounts (e-tag, frequent user and time of day) are no longer applied and the Alternative Toll Tariff applies.
• Transactions are rolled up and an invoice is issued to the road user;
• A road user is then given an opportunity to settle his/her e-toll transactions and depending on the time within which the toll transactions are paid, post Grace Period Discounts might apply;
• During that time, a debt collection process takes place;
• Once it appears that the debt collection process is unsuccessful, a Final Demand will be issued and the issue handed over to the prosecuting authority;
• Prosecution will be done in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act and/or Aarto pending when and where it will be implemented.

“Sanral does not have the mandate to sentence people to jail. That is a matter for the courts decide,” Mona said.

Grace period and “post-grace period” discounts

The regulations set out a number of discounts for so-called “Alternate” users, offering a reduction from the alternate tariff to the standard if you pay within the 7-day “grace period”.

After the grace period has lapsed, Sanral also offers a 60% discount if you pay within 30 days of your invoice. Alternate users may also receive a 30% discount on their invoice if they pay within 60 days.

Sanral also offers a once-off discount to the standard tariff for Alternate users who fail to pay within the grace period but who register with them and pay their invoice within 30 days.

Time-of-day discounts

Gauteng freeway users may also qualify for discounts based on the time of day and type of vehicle they drive.

These discounts are summarised in the table below:

The most significant discount outlined in the regulations are for frequent users.

These discounts take the form of thresholds and maximum limits on the amount a road user will be tolled in a given month, and apply only to registered e-Tag users.

Expect price increases

The last item in the regulations, 5.21, specifies that the amounts and tariffs in the regulations may be adjusted annually “by determination of the Minister [of Transport]”.

These adjustments may not exceed the Consumer Price Index calculated for the preceding 12 months.

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