toll booth

It was reported earlier this week that only four highways are entitled to toll hikes next year, with those highways being the Johor Bahru Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL), Kajang–Seremban Highway (LEKAS), Senai–Desaru Expressway (SDE) and the Guthrie Corridor Expressway (GCE), and that any deferment in rate increases will cost the government RM59.77 million in compensation to the highway concessionaires.

It appears that the deferment and therefore, the compensation to the highway concessionaires will be taking place, according to works minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof in a report by The Star. “The Cabinet on October 12 agreed to postpone any restructuring of toll rates for the year 2016 and 2017. This means that there will be no toll hikes for the four highways this year and next year,” he said.

Fadillah also told the Dewan Rakyat that toll rate adjustments proposed for eight highway concessions this year will also be halted, as reported by The Sun. This would also mean that the highway concessions will be compensated too, though Fadillah did not specify the cost of compensating them.

Meanwhile, PLUS Malaysia confirmed that there will be no changes in toll rates for the eight highways it operates, which include the North-South Expressway (NSE), the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE), Federal Highway Route 2 (FRHR2), and the Seremban Port-Dickson Highway (SPDH), North-South Expressway Central Link (NSECL), the Malaysia-Singapore Second Crossing (MSSC), Lebuhraya Butterworth-Kulim (BKE), and the Penang Bridge.