Many locals from Ky Son District have blocked the tollgate located on the Hoa Lac - Hoa Binh highway on June 11

In a report sent to PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the Hoa Binh Provincial People's Committee suggested exempting the toll for drivers who travel within five kilometres from the station, or rebuild Road 446 for local people.

Since Monday, many locals from Ky Son District have blocked the tollgate located on the Hoa Lac - Hoa Binh highway connecting Hoa Binh and Hanoi to demand the authorities to scrap the toll.

According to local people, many of them live close to the station and travel through the booth several times a day so the toll is not fair for them.

The protest has caused long traffic jam at the station which could not operate.

The Hoa Lac tollbooth opened in early May following the construction of the highway under build-operate-transfer (BOT) mode.

The investor, Hoa Binh-based BOT National Highway 6 - Hoa Lac - Hoa Binh Ltd. Co, has set the rates at VND35,000-180,000 (USD1.50-7.70) per vehicle. The toll will be collected for 27 years for the VND2.7 trillion (USD116 million) highway.

The fees are halved for people who live within a radius of 5 kilometres.

On May 7, four days after it started collecting fees, the station had to shut down for several hours in the afternoon after many drivers protested against the toll and demanded to use the highway for free.

On June 10, it had to be closed three times due to protests.

There are 88 toll stations across Vietnam, 73 of them managed by the Ministry of Transport. Protests at toll stations have occurred at several stations nation-wide due to high fees or improper locations. Dtinews