KUALA LUMPUR: Brace yourselves, folk, for the possibility that PLUS toll rates may go up by 5% next year.
Deputy Works Minister Datuk Rosnah Rashid Shirlin said PLUS would be allowed to raise toll rates by 5% every three years from 2016 until the extended concession period ends in 2038.
"However, the Government will have a right to study PLUS' application to increase toll rates after considering the Consumer Price Index and certified traffic volume audit.
"This means that there is will not be an automatic toll hike," she said when replying a question raised by Datuk Ahmad Fauzi Zahari (BN-Setiawangsa) in Parliament today.
She said the new terms following the review of the concession period did not include PLUS' management of the Penang Bridge.
She added that PLUS was to have reviewed its toll rates in 2015 under a concession review agreement in 2011.
She said the previous permitted hike was 10% every three years based on a calculation of 13.96 sen per kilometer.
Earlier, when answering a question by Datuk Haji Mohd Idris Jusi (PKR-Batu Pahat), Rosnah said PLUS made a post-tax profit of merely RM8.4mil out of the total RM2.16bil in toll revenue collection last year.
She said this was based on the 506 million vehicles using eight highways under PLUS's management in 2014.
She noted that a bulk of the company's collection revenue was used to repay loans (50%) with the remaining was used as operating and maintenance costs (20% to 25%), upgrading works (15%) and returns to shareholders. (10%).
Rosnah said Khazanah Nasional Berhad (51%) and the Employees Provident Fund (49%) owned PLUS.
Last Monday, Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof had informed Parliament that RM214mil had been set aside under Budget 2016 to compensate PLUS.
He said the compensation was part of measures taken by the Government to ensure that toll rates were not raised to the maximum by highway operators.
