Motorists can now breathe a sigh of relief after Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced recently that they will be no toll hike this year.
The announcement was made after chairing a three-hour meeting of the Special Cabinet Committee on tackling the rising cost of living. The government has agreed to pay RM400 million in accumulated compensation to highway concessionaires after imposing a freeze on a revision of toll rates since 2011.
Muhyiddin said highway tolls was one of the six factors that had a impact on the people’s cost of living, the others being fuel, energy, food, housing and cost of transport.
“We have also instructed the Works Ministry to study and meet the concessionaires to look at long-term measures (to soften the impact of toll rates on the cost of living). Maybe they can renegotiate the terms and consider extending the concession periods as a way to maintain the toll rates,” said Muhyiddin. He also explained that the concessionaires were entitled to raise their toll rates as stipulated in their concession agreements.
Recent report suggested that toll rates for 15 major highways are expected to increase this year that ranges between 50 sen and RM2. The government was supposed to raise our toll fares in 2007 but that was deferred to 2011. However, in 2011, the government had to put the toll rate hike on hold and now our second toll increase as outlined in the concession is supposed to take place in 2015 but have yet to raised it.
[Source: New Straits Times ]
