Own Correspondent

As reported by ZimEye.com on Monday, Tollgate fees will be going up by about 300 percent after the ministry of transport said the old fees had been shrivelled by inflation.

Light motor vehicles will now pay Z$120 to go through tollgates, up from Z$45.

Minibuses will pay Z$180 from the previous Z$70; buses Z$240 up from Z$90 and heavy vehicles with a carrying capacity of more than 3 tonnes but less than 10 tonnes are to pay Z$300 which has been reviewed from Z$115.

Haulage trucks will pay Z$590 from Z$225 previously while motorists who live near tollgates will pay a daily return fee of Z$50 or Z$3,000 per month before discounts.

The new tollgate fees are contained in Toll Roads (National Road Network) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (No. 11) to be gazetted on Friday after they were approved by the finance ministry.

Transport and Infrastructural Development Permanent Secretary Amos Marahwa told Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructural Development on Monday that the old tollgate fees were no longer fit for purpose.

“The ministry of finance has now come to the table allowing us to review some of the user fees. Remember we used to charge US$2 for small cars as toll fees,” Marahwa said, adding that the increases were necessary to fund road maintenance.

Marahwa said they were also considering forcing foreign-registered vehicles to pay tollgate fees in foreign currency.