Pretoria - The South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) says it has 1.2 million registered e-tag users - and collection from them is going fine.
The agency collected R250.8 million during February.
In a statement on Thursday, the agency refuted claims that it was experiencing a cash-flow problem, calling them erroneous.
The agency explained that while it is true that only some 9% of non-registered road users pay after the seven day grace period has expired, compliance of non-registered users before the seven day grace period expires is at 35%.
“There is no cash-flow problem but possibly a misunderstanding. In fact, we are satisfied with both registrations and payments made by non-registered users. We have always trusted that the public will do the right thing and pay. This high level of compliance has also meant that we are on track to meet our debt obligations,” said SANRAL’s financial officer, Inge Mulder.
As at 28 February 2014, the total revenue transferred to the Violations Processing Centre was R543 544 574, of which R50 043 487 has been paid, representing 9.21%.
“This revenue is the total amount invoiced to road users that have not paid within the seven day grace period, excluding any discounts that may be eligible at the date of the report,” said Mulder.
She said the timing of payment had an impact on the amount payable as the different discounts available, changes.
The discounts available to users after the 7 day grace period, is as follows:
- Payment after seven days but before 30 days, receives a 60% discount
- Payment after 30 days but before 60 days, receives a 30% discount
If a user registers simultaneously, they will receive a further 6.67% discount. This effectively brings the tariff back to the standard tariff if paid within 30 days.
Mulder said that even though this means that a road user can pay within 30 days and still only pay the standard tariff, they would lose all the other discounts that apply to an e-tag registered user.
Revenue represents the nominal value of transactions, excluding VAT. – SAnews.gov.za
