Possible criminal record looms for those who do not pay E-tolls
Vusi Mona, spokesperson for Sanral, says people who have received huge E-toll bills have failed to comply with the time frames stipulated in the enforcement of E-toll violations.
PRESS RELEASE
“We want to reiterate that when you register your vehicle and obtain an E-tag, you enjoy the benefit of a 48 per cent discount and other mark-downs based on time of day and frequent use.
“In addition, the maximum amount that you can be charged is R450 per month for an ordinary light motor vehicle.”
He says, however, when you do not have an E-tag, you do not get all these benefits and if you do not pay within the stipulated seven days, there is an additional cost incurred.
The fee collection process can be divided into three stages; the seven days grace period; the debt collection process by the Violations Processing Centre and the prosecution using the Criminal Procedure Act.
“If we take the scenario of a registered road user who has an outstanding balance of R100, his unregistered or register user without an E-tag (VLN user), would be expected to pay R192.31 because he would not have the benefit of the 48 per cent discount.
“If the road user fails to pay within the seven days grace period, the bill would escalate to R576.93, the full alternative fee which is payable if 60 days go past. However, if the road user pays 30 days after the grace period, he would get a 60 per cent discount on the R576.93, which would reduce the bill to R230.77,” he says.
Mona adds that the other scenario is that if the road user pays the bill between 30 and 60 days after the seven day grace period, then they get only a 30 per cent on the R576.92, which would reduce the bill to R403.85.
“The final step in the process is that if a road user fails to pay the R576.92, the offense will be handed over to the Prosecuting Authority and will be dealt with in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act. Failure to comply with this could result in a criminal record,” says Mona.
