HCMC – The Transport Ministry and Viettel jointly put into operation electronic toll collection (ETC) systems at 35 tollgates on December 29, raising the number of ETC tollgates nationwide to 91 to date.
The 35 toll stations with ETC systems installed are part of the second stage of a non-stop toll collection project. Of them, 25 are of build-operate-transfer projects managed by the Transport Ministry and the other 10 are under the management of local authorities, reported Lao Dong Online.
Vietnam Digital Transport JSC, a subsidiary of Viettel, offers the non-stop toll collection service called ePass for the second stage.
With the addition of 35 ETC tollgates, the non-stop toll collection project has met the deadline set by the prime minister, as the number of tollgates being equipped with ETC systems increased over 80% compared to that seen over the past four years.
Speaking at the event to launch the service, Le Dinh Tho, Deputy Minister of Transport, said that all of the toll stations along national highways have met the target of deploying non-stop toll collection, with 91 of 116 stations having installed the ETC systems. The remaining 15 stations have yet to install the systems due to short periods for collecting toll fees and the inadequate financial plans of investors.
The ETC systems are expected to promote the use of non-stop toll collection nationwide, enabling the country to develop digital transport in the years to come, Tho added.
Le Dang Dung, acting chairman and general director of Viettel, said Viettel pledged to join hands with the Transport Ministry to build and develop the transport industry’s database and develop platforms connecting data of information systems and platforms managing the e-collection and e-payment activities in the field.
