Most drivers with outstanding freeway toll fees did not pay their bills because they forgot or did so in protest against the freeway Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system, a National Freeway Bureau survey showed.
The system was implemented in December 2013, billing drivers automatically per kilometer traveled on freeways. Since then, outstanding bills have accumulated to more than NT$800 million (US$28.54 million).
The bureau had tasked Taiwan Real Survey Co to find out why drivers do not pay toll fees and if they know the legal consequences.
The survey showed that 47.2 percent of drivers with outstanding fees said they forgot to pay, while 41 percent said they purposely did not pay, as they were dissatisfied with the toll collection policy.
Twenty-eight percent said they did not pay their due fees because of financial difficulties, while 21.4 percent said they thought they would not get caught for not paying, the survey showed.
However, when asked in general why people might skip their payments, 35.3 percent of respondents said they believed it was in protest against the system, it showed.
About 27 percent said that people might have forgotten to pay, while 26.2 percent said financial difficulties might be the main reason, the survey showed.
Nearly 22 percent said people might believe they would not be punished for not paying, it showed.
However, 69.4 percent said they are aware that they might have to pay administrative and late fees if they miss their due dates, it showed.
About 53 percent said they know that the Administrative Enforcement Agency would be in charge of collecting overdue fees if those billed keep ignoring notifications, the survey showed.
Nearly 90 percent said that it is unfair and unjust that some drivers do not pay their fees.
Kao Shih-yuan (高世垣), a consultant at the polling firm, said that the National Freeway Bureau should explore further why some drivers do not pay their fees, incentivize payment and increase fines.
Drivers with overdue fees should be notified of the consequences of their inaction, Kao said, adding that payments through cloud systems should be accepted.
Eric Yu (俞振華), an associate professor in National Chengchi University’s politics department, said that the phenomenon of drivers being unwilling to pay their fees might have been influenced by controversies when the Electronic Toll Collection system replaced a manual system.
“The contractor running the ETC system clearly has an image issue and needs to reshape it. Meanwhile, people need to know why they need to pay toll fees and what the government uses the money for,” Yu said.
Bureau data showed that payments would contribute to the Freeway Construction Fund, which is used to construct and maintain freeways.
The fund’s accumulated debt exceeds NT$150 billion, with revenue of NT$22 billion to NT$23 billion per year and a payment default rate of 0.8 percent.
Last year, 50,000 ETC account holders with unpaid fees of more than NT$300 each were reported to the Administrative Enforcement Agency.
Ninety-eight percent of them owed less than NT$20,000, while 11 account holders owed more than NT$200,000, the bureau said, adding that the highest overdue bill was NT$850,000.
The survey, which was conducted from June 18 to 20, collected 1,082 valid samples. The margin of error was 2.98 percent.
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) has been investigating nine shell companies working with Prince Holding Group, and the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office is seeking further prosecution of alleged criminals, a source said yesterday. The nine companies and three Taiwanese nationals were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Oct. 14 as Specially Designated Nationals as a result of a US federal court indictment. Prince Holding founder Chen Zhi (陳志) has been charged with fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding’s suspected forced-labor camps in Cambodia, the indictment says. Intelligence shared between Taiwan,
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
RSS