Rethinking the toll-free policy

Based on open information, the government has not made any compensation to the harmed companies. Making things worse, it has agreed that expressway management companies can continue to charge tolls after the expiration date if their balance sheets are affected by the holiday toll-free policy.

It is commonsensical for a toll road to generally have a time limit for its toll charges. After construction costs are covered by toll income, expressways should be free of charge. It is also part of the country's road management laws.

Given the charge-extension policy, public interest and specifically car drivers, has been jeopardized.

The government is wrong in that it has mixed things up. If it wants to make holiday travel toll-free, it should directly compensate the affected companies (after full and wide-ranging consultations and public discussions, of course). Meanwhile, it is not entitled to extend the time limit for toll charges.

A better solution is for the government to cancel the holiday toll-free policy while ensuring the road management companies stop charging tolls after the legal time limit. There have been media reports that some companies are allowed to continue to charge after the time limit, an obvious breach of market rules.

Every mistake comes with a price. And for travellers who are used to toll-free benefits, the government would feel great pressure if they cancelled them.