Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport: "Strict Measures for Habitual Non-Payment, Convenient Toll Payment"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that starting from the 17th, it will begin the second pilot project for the forced collection of unpaid tolls on private highways in cooperation with the Korea Transport Institute's Private Road Management Support Center.

The Ministry and the Private Road Management Support Center have been conducting this project since last year on behalf of private road operators who do not have the authority to forcibly collect unpaid tolls, aiming to establish a culture of sincere payment of highway tolls, which are a type of public utility fee, in accordance with Article 21 of the Paid Road Act and similar to national tax delinquency measures.

In the first pilot project conducted from October last year to June this year, a total of 360 cases amounting to approximately 140 million KRW in unpaid tolls were collected from vehicles that had unpaid tolls more than 100 times in the past five years. For 85 individuals who did not pay even after notification, criminal procedures are underway, including police reports for misuse of convenience facilities.

In the second pilot project, the scope of forced collection targets has been expanded to vehicles with 50 or more accumulated unpaid cases in the past five years. Approximately 4,977 vehicles are subject to this, with the total unpaid amount estimated to be around 2.1 billion KRW.

Once the forced collection procedure begins, the subjects will be notified of the unpaid status and payment methods via AlimTalk, text messages, and mail. If payment is not made within the notification period, electronic deposit seizure and forced collection will be applied.

Joo Hyun-jong, Director of the Road Bureau at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, “We will continue to improve the convenience of toll payment methods. At the same time, we will strengthen management and supervision to ensure that the collected tolls are used to enhance the convenience and safety of private highways, so that users who sincerely pay tolls can enjoy corresponding services.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.