HANOI, July 17 (Xinhua) -- All toll stations in Vietnam must apply automated non-stop toll collection before Dec. 31, said Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
The prime minister urged the ministry of transport to accelerate automated toll collection at stations across Vietnam, review the application of the non-stop toll collection system and report results to him in January 2020, local daily newspaper Vietnam News reported on Wednesday.
Toll collection of BOT (build-operate-transfer) projects failing to apply the automated non-stop toll collection as requested will be suspended.
To pay a toll through the automated system, automobile owners will be granted an e-tag free of charge along with a toll payment account. The toll will be deducted from the account and a text message will be sent to the account holder's mobile phone.
More than 700,000 vehicles were given e-tags as of June, according to the ministry.
In the first half of this year, Vietnam imported roughly 77,800 completely-built automobiles worth over 1.7 billion U.S. dollars, up 532.4 percent in volume and up 424.8 percent in value against the same period last year, according to its ministry of industry and trade.
