Toll reductions of 18 per cent at all highways belonging to PLUS Malaysia Bhd (PLUS) from midnight is a step-by-step move implemented by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government towards the goal of abolishing toll, said Minister of Finance Lim Guan Eng.
However, he said the abolishing of toll would surely take time depending on the national economic situation.
‘‘If we look at what we mentioned, that this is a gradual step towards the end goal. That’s what was stated in the promises of the PH manifesto. But this will definitely take time as we have to wait for the economy to recover,’’ he told reporters at a Penang DAP Chinese New Year Open House, last night.
The sixth promise in the PH manifesto at the 14th General Election among others stated that the coalition would review all highway concession agreements and negotiate to obtain the best prices to take over every toll concession with the final goal of abolishing toll collections in stages.
The Cabinet meeting on Jan 15, 2020, decided that the 18 per cent toll discount will be given to passenger cars, buses and taxis (i.e class 1, 4 and 5) on the following highways:
- New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE)
- North-South Expressway Central Link (ELITE)
- Malaysia-Singapore Second-Link Highway (LINKEDUA)
- Phase 2 East Coast Expressway (LPT 2)
- Seremban Port Dickson Highway (SPDH)
- Butterworth – Kulim Expressway (BKE)
The discount is also applicable to class 2, 3, 4 and 5 vehicles plying the Penang Bridge.
With the toll reduction effective today, the toll rate dropped from 13.6 sen/km to 11.15 sen/km, lower than the toll rate in 1999 which was 11.24 sen/km.
Starting today, motorists travelling from Jalan Duta to Alor Setar will only pay RM45.50 compared to RM55.50 previously, while those going to Skudai from Jalan Duta will only pay RM38.50 from RM47.00.