The Knesset‘s Economics Committee this morning approved the ministry of Transportation and Road Safety’s request to amend the Toll Road (Road 6) regulations concerning collection fees. The regulations are intended to ease the burden on drivers and prevent unnecessary charges and fines, so that instead of waiting for a bill by mail, occasional users can receive a digital invoice, sent to their phone or a provided email address. To encourage drivers to switch to digital invoices, a NIS 2 discount will be offered on collection fees.
The Ministry of Transportation representative, Adv. David Tamir, explained that the amendment is intended to address difficulties encountered by occasional users of Road 6, due to not receiving mail. According to him, the goal is to provide the concessionaire with an alternative to sending the bill via SMS, email, or any other communication method approved by the authority supervising the operator.
MK Shalom Danino, who substituted for the chairman, asked to ensure that consumers would receive the invoice through both the new methods and by mail. “We need to be very careful in this process and check that there are no glitches along the way, because if people agree to the change and the bill still doesn’t arrive, it will be their problem,” he said. MK Danino also requested data on charges and how it is ensured that the bills will reach their destination this time, stating: “The committee’s spirit is always to care for the consumer, and that is what is important to us.”
The Deputy Director of Concessions at the Cross Israel Highway Company, which oversees the road operator, Shimon Avraham, recalled that the road opened in 2002 and its users are either subscribers or occasional users. He added that there are approximately 270,000 journeys per day, with about 90% being subscribers, and approximately 175,000 invoices are sent each month to occasional users.
It also emerged during the discussion that about 47% of occasional invoices are not paid on time, leading to collection costs. The amendment is designed to address exactly this statistic, to ease the burden on consumers, and to lead to timely payment, which will reduce unnecessary fines. As mentioned, at the end of the discussion, the regulations were approved and are expected to come into effect in about three months.
