Less toll increase but slightly longer concession period

• New Deal is less of a burden on users and Government
• Penang Bridge toll to remain at current rate until end of concession
• All highway concessions under Plus will end together with North South Expressway on Dec 31, 2038 

UEM and the Government recently announced that they have come to an agreement regarding toll increase and the duration of the concession as well as the compensation that the Government owes the concession holder as a result of holding back toll increases and it is rather good news all around.

In short, the existing toll rate increase of 10 per cent every three years have been slashed by half to five per cent every three years and this is done without imposing any compensation on the Government. In short it means that the people have successfully negotiated a lower rate of toll increase without any hidden extra through Government compensation.

The Government owed UEM RM2.9 billion in terms of compensation for holding back the current scheduled toll incraese but the company had agreed to waive the compensation in return for streamlining the different concession periods to end at 2038.

Kudos to the Government and UEM.

Penang bridge users are the biggest beneficiaries, the toll will remain at the existing rate (ie RM7 for cars) for the remaining of the concession period until 2038.

The full Press Release from UEM is after the jump