Toll hike petition filed

MANILA, Philippines - Motorists should brace for a toll hike at the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) starting next year.

The Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) yesterday published anew the proposed 15 percent increase in toll at the 86.7-kilometer NLEX in compliance with an order issued by Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) executive director Edmundo Reyes Jr.

The MNTC, represented by lawyer Joseph Marigomen, has asked the TRB to issue an order approving the adjusted toll rates starting Jan. 1.

The MNTC is seeking an average 15.2 percent increase in toll at NLEX, which is allowed under the Supplemental Toll Operation Agreement (STOA) signed in April 1998.

Under the proposed toll increase, the company intends to charge motorists P46.81 per entry under the open system from the current P40.61, excluding value added tax, and P2.74 per kilometer under the closed system from the current P2.37 per kilometer for Class 1 vehicles particularly cars and vans.

For Class 2 vehicles, including buses, MNTC intends to charge P117.02 for the open system from P101.53 and P6.85 per kilometer for the closed system from P5.94 per kilometer.

For Class 3 vehicles, including trucks, the operator intends to impose a toll of P140.43 for the open system from P121.84 as well as P8.22 per kilometer for the closed system from P7.13 per kilometer.

The TRB has yet to act on the petition of MNTC to adjust toll rates last January 2013.

Marigomen said Clause 11.4.1 of the STOA and Section 9 of Presidential Decree 1894 allows toll adjustments every two years.

“The periodic toll rate adjustment is a contractual right to which petitioner MNTC is entitled under the STOA. Furthermore, it is necessary to ensure the sustainability and viability of the NLEX and its project roads and to ensure the comfort and safety of motorists and other users of the said toll expressways,” the lawyer stated in the petition.

MNTC president Rodrigo Franco said the computation of the proposed toll adjustment was in accordance with the periodic adjustment formula in the STOA.

“The matter is of extreme urgency and the petitioner MNTC will suffer great damage and/or irreparable injury before a decision on the merits can be rendered by the honorable TRB, and/or failure to immediately impose and collect the increase in rates would result in outright delay or stoppage of urgently needed improvements, expansions, or repairs of the toll facilities of the NLEX and its project roads under the STOA,” Franco said.

The Cavite Infrastructure Corp. (CIC) that operates the 13.5-kilometer Manila-Cavite toll expressway (Cavitex) also has a pending petition before the TRB.

MNTC and CIC said they lost P2.26 billion in potential revenues since 2012 due to the failure of TRB to act on their toll hike petitions. Both operators lost P147 million in 2012, P990 million in 2013, and would forgo about P1.1 billion this year.

Operators and concessionaires of NLEX, Cavitex, South Luzon Expressway and the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road are seeking toll increases starting January.

On the other hand, South Luzon Tollway Corp. and Manila Toll Expressway Systems Inc. petitioned a 33 percent hike while STAR Infrastructure Development Corp. sought a 16 percent toll increase. The petition has been put on hold.