The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) will soon issue revised terms and conditions for road users who register for Gauteng e-tolling, it said on Wednesday.
“We believe that these new terms and conditions will allay fears consumers may have,” Sanral said.
Information on what these might be was not immediately available.
The new terms and conditions were expected to be released when Sanral and the National Consumer Commission’s (NCC) “engagement” was concluded.
They were based on concerns and recommendations by the public, Sanral said.
Allaying fears
They would apply to all who had already registered or planned to register as users and registered users would not be disadvantaged.
“This decision is a demonstration that we take the concerns and input of the public seriously. We also continue to co-operate and engage with the NCC on this matter.”
A meeting was scheduled with the NCC and the Democratic Alliance on Wednesday. Sanral has missed two previous meetings.
Sanral reiterated that users’ banking details would be required only if they chose a payment option which required them to provide these.
Tolling is due to officially start on April 30 on main highways around Johannesburg and Tshwane.
It is planned to be an open road tolling system with overhead gantries fitted with equipment to read vehicles’ number plates as they pass underneath and calculate the toll fees based on vehicles’ dimensions.
Freeing traffic
There would not be tolling booths and traffic would flow as drivers did not have to slow down. Deductions were made from users’ e-toll accounts.
Registration was at e-toll customer centres and some shopping malls.
Payment options included having fees deducted from credit card accounts with top-up thresholds set by account holders, or by pre-paying and topping up via in-vehicle e-tags.
Visitors to Gauteng could register in advance for day passes. Users who did not register would be invoiced with a due date for payment.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan announced in February that the toll fees for the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project would be capped at R550 a month and that fees for light motor vehicles would be 30 cents a kilometre.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions recently led a march in protest against the tolls. — Sapa