BRATISLAVA, January 17, (WEBNOVINY) — The Ministry of Transport wants to prevent that Slovakia would have to pay a fine for the e-toll system based on a procedure in front of the European Commission and the European Court of Justice. The fine would not be paid by the operator of the e-toll system, the company SkyToll, a.s., or the previous government which introduced the system, but Slovak taxpayers, including the hauliers. “We want to prevent that,” said the ministry’s spokesman Martin Krajcovic.
The ministry thus reacted to the first out of four requirements of the Union of Motor Carriers of Slovakia (UNAS) to suspend the e-toll collection until the tender for the system’s construction and operation is audited internationally. UNAS proposes that an alternative way is used instead of the e-toll system until then.
At its meeting on January 15, UNAS declared a strike alert until February 15. Until then, hauliers want to hold talks with the government on the transfer of the collection of motor vehicle tax from local self-governments to the central government, and reduction of its rate, which would eliminate existing regional differences in the tax rate. Revenues from the tax, which six of eight counties increased by 5, 10 and 15 percent as of the beginning of this year, should be used exclusively for repairs and construction of roads. The motor carriers also request compensation for higher costs in road transport by refunds of the excise tax from mineral fuels and signing an agreement on cooperation with the Transport Ministry.
The ministry said in response to UNAS’s requirements that it understands their difficult situation, and because of that established a commission for optimization of the e-toll system in the summer, and regularly communicates with hauliers’s associations UNAS and CESMAD. The ministry accepted arguments of motor carriers regarding liquidating fines for violations of e-toll rules, and proposes to decrease the fines by a half, Krajcovic added.
SITA
