In October, the state collected 6.3% more in tolls compared to the same period last year. Carriers paid 1.37 billion crowns in tolls in the Czech Republic. Compared to the previous year, the state collected six percent more from it. For the first ten months of the year, carriers paid 12.5 billion crowns in tolls, which is 0.45% more than for the same period last year. The share of tolls for driving on toll sections of class I roads is 11.3%; the remaining fees are for driving on highways. This information was provided by the toll system administrator, CzechToll company.
Petr Chvátal, the general director of CzechToll, stated, “The toll collection this year is not affected by significant changes in the area of toll rates or the extent of tolling.” He further explained, “The development of the macroeconomic situation or the number of calendar days, which has a fundamental effect on the driving of trucks, is primarily reflected in individual months.”
This October had 22 working days, two more than last year. According to CzechToll, the deviation in toll collection is primarily due to the calendar. After adjusting for the same number of working days, the toll collection would have stagnated in a year-on-year comparison.
Alongside toll collection, the number of toll transactions increased. The satellite toll system CzechToll processed almost 105 million in October, 5.5% more yearly.
At the end of October, 816,000 vehicles weighing over 3.5 tons were registered in the electronic toll system, of which 639 thousand cars had foreign registration plates. For these registered vehicles, CzechToll issued 638,000 on-board units to carriers.
The government plans to increase tolls by 10 to 15 percent from March 1, 2024. The increase will be about a new fee, which will reflect the emissions of trucks. According to the Ministry of Transport, the annual state income from tolls is around 14 billion crowns. The toll increase could bring up to two billion crowns more.