Gauteng has not given up on the e-toll debt of thousands of South African motorists and is currently investigating different ways of collecting it.
The Minister of Transport, Sindisiwe Chikunga, has repeatedly emphasised that defaulting users are required to settle their accounts, though it is still to be decided how the government will go about enforcing this decision.
A debt that stays with you
Gauteng’s controversial electronic toll collection process (e-toll) was officially shut down on 12 April 2024, putting an end to the charges placed on vehicles passing under one of the province’s many blue-light gantries.
However, the historical e-toll debt incurred by motorists over the years has not been absolved, and individuals are still expected to pay what they owe, according to Chikunga.
This was confirmed by the National Treasury, which states that the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) has an obligation to take appropriate steps to collect all the money owed to it.
“On how we will enforce or not enforce, that is a matter we have not discussed, we will be tending to that as time goes on,” said the transport minister.
Importantly, it was previously stated that Sanral will not pursue criminal action against motorists with outstanding debts due to a decision made in March 2019 suspending the organization from taking e-toll debts through the courts.
Prior to this decision, the Electronic Toll Collection company (ETC) was issuing between 2,000 and 4,000 court summons per month and had applied for 1,400 default judgments against motorists.
A default judgment is when a debtor does not respond to or defend a summons.
The intended consequence is that motorists can be blacklisted for their unpaid e-toll fees, negatively affecting their credit scores.
This led to an incident where an individual was blacklisted when applying for credit because they owed R60,000 in e-toll fees, but credit agencies were quick to clarify that this was an error and that e-toll debt would not count against credit scores anywhere in the country.
However, the government is considering revisiting this strategy as a means of pursuing historic debts, according to MyBroadband.
E-toll invoices were issued right up until the shutdown date on April 12 and motorists may still be receiving them due to delays with the postal service, but the Organization Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) has stated that it is a futile practice to go after these debts.
A key reason for this is that, due to the 2019 decision, no new summons have been issued in five years, meaning that much of the outstanding e-toll sum is now considered prescribed debt.
Prescribed debt refers to fees that are more than three years old and have not been paid or acknowledged by the debtor.
While it is not legally enforceable, prescribed debts can still be reported to credit bureaus to impact a person’s credit score, which could be used to compel motorists to settle their accounts.
Other possible consequences for defaulters that have been suggested include withholding new driver’s licences until the person pays up, or using credit collection methods like garnishing wages or seizing personal property.
OUTA has disputed the transport department’s stance on the tolling matter, arguing that, as far as it is concerned, there is no outstanding e-toll debt as it was written off years ago when Sanral stopped issuing summons.
“This notion of trying to squeeze unpaid e-toll bills from the wallets of millions of motorists is a fallacy and illusion that Sanral is simply unable to accept,” it said.
OUTA and AfriForum have both stated that they will provide assistance to individuals facing legal action resulting from the non-payment of e-tolls.
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