The government should introduce new measures to tackle the issue of toll road fees, says an article in Beijing News. The following is an excerpt:

The National Audit Office last week released the auditing results on the toll road fees collected in parts of the country. The auditing involved 100 roads, comprising 86,800 km in length in 18 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. On these roads, 158 toll stations had been illegally set up and 14.9 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) unlawfully collected by the end of 2005. At the current rate of fees these stations will continue to collect 19.5 billion yuan in the future.

Since 1984 when toll roads began to be built in China, this situation has existed. The report of the National Audit Office has again offered evidence.Interest groups have taken charge of toll roads and these groups can make decisions according to their own interests. Some local governments have also involved with these groups.

As the auditing report shows, some local governments are at fault. First, they allow those roads that have paid back loans or never used loans to continue collecting fees. Second, they charge on the third-level roads that are prohibited from collecting fees by the central government. Third, they set up several toll stations on the same road. Fourth, they collect fees even before the road is completed.

China still lacks a clear law on toll roads. And local polices tend to protect the interest groups creating a chaotic situation.

What the public expects is rectification as soon as possible. A set of measures to tackle this situation should be implemented to put an end to it.

(China Daily March 4, 2008)