Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection Co (遠通電收) said it would be forced to give up on a controversial infrastructure project if a compromise with the government was not reached, while transportation officials tried to salvage the multibillion dollar deal.
The firm yesterday offered two other scenarios to resolve the dispute over the electronic highway toll-collection (ETC) project, after the Ministry of Transportation and Communications on Saturday demanded that it hammer out a solution by yesterday evening.
The ministry announced late last night that it will determine whether to terminate its contract with Far Eastern by tomorrow.
Vice Minister of Transportation and Communication Tsai Duei (蔡堆) said that a final decision was put on hold because Far Eastern's offers yesterday afternoon "fell short of the expectations of the ministry and the public," and some of the content of the offers needed to be clarified.
"If we eventually decide to terminate the company's contract, we will try to take effective measures to protect the interests of motorists," Tsai said.
Tsai refused to comment further on the discussions and appeared flabbergasted when reporters pressed him to elaborate on what the meant by "expectations."
The controversy over the ETC project began after lawmakers reported receiving complaints about the cost of the on-board units (OBUs) customers had to purchase to use the system.
Far Eastern is neither state-run nor non-profit, and it had to protect its shareholders rather than simply bow to the government's multiple requirements, vice chairman Champion Lee (李冠軍) said during a press conference yesterday afternoon.
Lee said the company's first option -- if it were allowed to continue operating the ETC system -- to negotiate with the government to adjust the service fee upward for each ETC transaction from the current NT$3.4 (US$0.105) out of NT$40 standard toll for a car.
This was the only way the company could offer OBUs for free as the government requested, he said. He refused to disclose the company's desired transaction fee.
However, as it was unlikely that the government will raise the service fee in light of mounting pressure from lawmakers and the public, Lee said Far Eastern would instead extend a current promotion offering OBUs at a discounted price to six months. This would allow 500,000 customers, instead of the 200,000 previously agreed to, to enjoy a preferential OBU price of NT$680 apiece.
Far Eastern would also refund the price of an OBU to frequent users if, for example, they used toll stations 200 times during a "certain period" of time, Lee said.
The company said it would also allow local manufacturers to produce OBUs and comply with the Government Procurement Law (
Lee said that if the firm gave away the OBUs it would post a loss instead of generating NT$10 billion in profits as projected after the 20-year build-operate-transfer period had passed. If the government found this compromise unacceptable, Lee said, the company would be forced to allow the government to take over the ETC operation.
Additional reporting by Shelley Shan
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