The toll station Dau Giay on the HCM City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway that was robbed during the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The Directorate for Roads of Vietnam (DRVN) is planningan investigation into toll collection activities of the State-run VietnamExpressway Corporation (VEC) on all highways over concerns of a lack oftransparency.
Thiscomes after armed robbers escaped with almost 100,000 USD during a toll-stationraid last week
Questionswere raised over the amount of money stolen at the station on the busy Ho Chi MinhCity-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway in southern Vietnam on the morning ofFebruary 7, the third day of the Lunar New Year.
Policesaid the two thieves made off with 2.2 billion VND (94,500 USD) in cash, whichwas reportedly the cash collected that morning alone, much higher than previousVEC’s report that the daily revenue reached no more than 1 billion VND (42,900USD).
AVEC representative explained that as per the arrangements with its bankpartner, the bank representative would arrive at the stations to pick up thetoll once a day, but during the holiday, the toll pickup is every two days,resulting in the high amount of cash on the premises.
MaiTuan Anh, Chairman of VEC, told the media that speculation of the corporation’sunderreporting revenues is totally unfounded.
Thelargest highway operator in Vietnam also said it has in place several measures– including the use of 24/7 security cameras and internal audits – to ensuresecure and accurate management of toll collection.
“Allthe tolls collected along the highways we manage would be transferred into theState budget, the collection process as well as the corporation’s expenditureare all closely monitored by the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam,” Anh said,adding that VEC is working with the police to verify the revenues and put torest “unnecessary rumours”.
VECsaid the toll collecting units need to send a report detailing the totaltraffic and revenue to the corporation on a daily and monthly basis, and VECitself would submit reports to the DRVN and the transport ministry eachquarter.
DRVNGeneral Director Nguyen Van Huyen told Voice of Vietnam (VOV) the directoratewould start inspecting the toll collection process by VEC after the policefinished their investigation into alleged wrongdoings at the southernexpressway.
Huyenagreed with VEC that the toll collection protocols at the corporation are quite“stringent and transparent”.
Allfour of highways under VEC’s management – Cau Gie-Ninh Binh and Noi Bai-Lao Caiin the north, Da Nang-Quang Ngai in the central region, and HCM City-Long Thanh-DauGiay in the south – are built with official development assistance (ODA)capital, however, the roads are still tolled to recover loans and investmentcapital, drawing similarities to the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model whichalso came under scrutiny in recent times for lack of transparency.
Giventhe recent State budget constraints, many infrastructure projects across Vietnamwere funded by private investors via concession models like BOT.
Previously,five people – including the director and deputy director – of the Yen KhanhCompany, which collects tolls at the BOT station on the high-traffic six-laneHCM City-Trung Luong expressway, were arrested for manipulating software tofalsify revenue and evade tax.
Thecase once again raised the issue of the need to have all BOT toll plazas fittedwith electronic toll collection (ETC) systems to boost transparency and allowfor fast, convenient transactions by eliminating the need for human staff orthe use of cash.
ToNam Toan, head of the science-technology and international cooperationdepartment under the DRVN, said the deployment of the ETC system began in July2017, but it’s unlikely the transport ministry’s target of having all BOT lanesequipped with ETC by the end of 2019 would be met.
But,he said, all BOT stations will have at least one or two ETCs.
Toansaid the reason for the delay could be that the BOT investors are still notwilling to be transparent with their revenues or trust a third-party ETC serviceprovider with collecting the toll.
Hesaid the DRVN is building a circular detailing the regulations on non-stop tollcollection and institutionalising penalties against BOT investors or driverswho fail to follow regulations on ETC.
Toanexpects that by the end of 2019, the State Bank of Vietnam would finishdeveloping a payment portal to facilitate toll payments.-VNS/VNA
Thiscomes after armed robbers escaped with almost 100,000 USD during a toll-stationraid last week
Questionswere raised over the amount of money stolen at the station on the busy Ho Chi MinhCity-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway in southern Vietnam on the morning ofFebruary 7, the third day of the Lunar New Year.
Policesaid the two thieves made off with 2.2 billion VND (94,500 USD) in cash, whichwas reportedly the cash collected that morning alone, much higher than previousVEC’s report that the daily revenue reached no more than 1 billion VND (42,900USD).
AVEC representative explained that as per the arrangements with its bankpartner, the bank representative would arrive at the stations to pick up thetoll once a day, but during the holiday, the toll pickup is every two days,resulting in the high amount of cash on the premises.
MaiTuan Anh, Chairman of VEC, told the media that speculation of the corporation’sunderreporting revenues is totally unfounded.
Thelargest highway operator in Vietnam also said it has in place several measures– including the use of 24/7 security cameras and internal audits – to ensuresecure and accurate management of toll collection.
“Allthe tolls collected along the highways we manage would be transferred into theState budget, the collection process as well as the corporation’s expenditureare all closely monitored by the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam,” Anh said,adding that VEC is working with the police to verify the revenues and put torest “unnecessary rumours”.
VECsaid the toll collecting units need to send a report detailing the totaltraffic and revenue to the corporation on a daily and monthly basis, and VECitself would submit reports to the DRVN and the transport ministry eachquarter.
DRVNGeneral Director Nguyen Van Huyen told Voice of Vietnam (VOV) the directoratewould start inspecting the toll collection process by VEC after the policefinished their investigation into alleged wrongdoings at the southernexpressway.
Huyenagreed with VEC that the toll collection protocols at the corporation are quite“stringent and transparent”.
Allfour of highways under VEC’s management – Cau Gie-Ninh Binh and Noi Bai-Lao Caiin the north, Da Nang-Quang Ngai in the central region, and HCM City-Long Thanh-DauGiay in the south – are built with official development assistance (ODA)capital, however, the roads are still tolled to recover loans and investmentcapital, drawing similarities to the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model whichalso came under scrutiny in recent times for lack of transparency.
Giventhe recent State budget constraints, many infrastructure projects across Vietnamwere funded by private investors via concession models like BOT.
Previously,five people – including the director and deputy director – of the Yen KhanhCompany, which collects tolls at the BOT station on the high-traffic six-laneHCM City-Trung Luong expressway, were arrested for manipulating software tofalsify revenue and evade tax.
Thecase once again raised the issue of the need to have all BOT toll plazas fittedwith electronic toll collection (ETC) systems to boost transparency and allowfor fast, convenient transactions by eliminating the need for human staff orthe use of cash.
ToNam Toan, head of the science-technology and international cooperationdepartment under the DRVN, said the deployment of the ETC system began in July2017, but it’s unlikely the transport ministry’s target of having all BOT lanesequipped with ETC by the end of 2019 would be met.
But,he said, all BOT stations will have at least one or two ETCs.
Toansaid the reason for the delay could be that the BOT investors are still notwilling to be transparent with their revenues or trust a third-party ETC serviceprovider with collecting the toll.
Hesaid the DRVN is building a circular detailing the regulations on non-stop tollcollection and institutionalising penalties against BOT investors or driverswho fail to follow regulations on ETC.
Toanexpects that by the end of 2019, the State Bank of Vietnam would finishdeveloping a payment portal to facilitate toll payments.-VNS/VNA
VNA
