A consensus on the electric toll collection (ETC) system was reached yesterday, with the Far Eastern Electric Toll Collection Co agreeing to continue offering onboard units (OBU) at NT$680 each for three months after the final deal is signed.
However, the director of the Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau, Wu Mu-fu (吳木富), said yesterday that the company also proposed to quote a base price for OBUs at NT$1,150 each after the three months, and that the price would amount to NT$1,249 when other miscellaneous fees are included.
In that regard, Wu said the bureau will ask a financial consulting firm to validate the quote before the contract is signed with Far Eastern.
Yesterday's consensus was achieved after the bureau's ETC review committee authorized the bureau to negotiate with the company for another month. In their recommendations last week, the committee reminded the bureau that it must insist that the OBU price be kept at NT$680 each.
The bureau yesterday further required the company to set no cap on the number of new applications it could take within three months.
The bureau also asked the company to propose a special offer plan each year for three years after the contract is signed. The company must also have an annual goal on the number of new customers it aims to reach each year.
This particular requirement will later be listed in the contract, and the bureau is entitled to fine the company NT$500,000 per day for failing to meet their stated goals.
The company also promised that motorists buying OBUs during these months will get a complete refund of their money if they manage to use the OBUs more than 100 times within the next two years.
Far Eastern spokesperson Lang Ya-ling (朗亞玲) said motorists can only purchase the OBUs in one payment.
She said at the moment customers can choose to rent OBUs or pay the price in installments.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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