The dispute between the transportation authorities and a private electronic toll collection system operator escalated yesterday, with the contractor, Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection Co (遠通電收), claiming the inauguration of the system will go ahead early next year as scheduled, while the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said absolutely not.
The automatic toll-ticketing system was originally slated to enter trials starting Jan. 1. However, questions over the cost of installing an on-board unit (OBU) in vehicles for use with the system look likely to cause a delay.
"We have delivered on our part of the deal in under a year, in line with the government's strict demands," said Far Eastern Electronic Chairman Douglas Hsu (徐旭東), adding that the government should now live up to the promises it made in the contract.
In a ceremony yesterday to show that the company is ready to introduce the ETC system, Hsu said his company just could not understand why the authorities had changed their mind, especially after the regulator had approved the pricing when the firm outbid seven rivals to win the NT$6 billion (US$181 million) build-operate-transfer project in April of last year.
"`Frustration' does not begin to describe [our feelings]," Hsu said.
Taiwanese drivers will have to pay NT$2,249 for the e-toll equipment to be installed in their cars. The charge includes the price of an OBU and an integrated circuit credit card, as well as the installation fee and a security deposit.
Hsu said it is not a mandatory system and that the company hasn't forced anyone to buy the on-board unit. He emphasized that the price of the company's e-toll equipment is reasonable and cheap when compared with Hong Kong's fee of NT$6,800, Japan's fee of NT$5,800 and Singapore's NT$3,000.
So far, around 30,000 motorists have applied for installation, while over 3,000 drivers have already installed the equipment, the company said.
Even so, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Ling-san (林陵三) told reporters that the system trials, due to start on Jan. 1, were not going to go ahead, USTV reported yesterday.
The ministry plans to invite a third, independent party to review the cost in response to lawmakers' questions about unreasonable pricing. The contract stipulates that the price of the OBU and implementation date should be ratified by the ministry's National Freeway Bureau before the ETC system hits the road, Lin said.
"You should know who governs the freeways," the TV quoted Lin as saying when the minister was asked about the contractor's claim that it would start operating the system as scheduled.
Far Eastern Electronics, however, appeared persistent, with president Chang Yung-chang (張永昌) saying they will keep communicating with the freeway bureau and hope to sort out any outstanding issues by the Lunar New Year holiday late next month.
The company is still calculating the losses that it will incur by any delay in introduction, but they have not thought about asking for government compensation, Chang said.
Far Eastern Electronics has invested NT$2.5 billion in the project and is expected to break even in 2010, according to the executive.
Price cuts will not happen unless the government offers subsidies, the company's project assistant-manager Arthur Ong (翁士峻) said, citing the Singaporean government's subsidy policy.
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