Local officials have scrapped tollgate fees at the entrances to towns in Rakhine to ease financial pressure on traders who use the routes regularly, a state minister has said.
U Min Aung, Rakhine’s State Minister for Civil Development, made the announcement following a decision at a regular state parliamentary meeting last month.
“We will stop collecting town entrance fees from vehicles from June 1,” he said. “Any vehicle can pass the gates without paying.”
Truckers and other drivers taking the route between Yangon and Sittwe, Rakhine’s capital, have to pay fees at 50 tolls stations.
The fees also push up costs for bus companies. U Hla Maung Kyay, who runs the Shwe Pyi Thit bus company, said the toll fees were a “burden” for traders.
“Ending fees eases the burden not just for bus companies but also the public,” he told Myanmar Business Today.
Nine bus lines serve the route between Yangon and Sittwe.
Local governments can earn revenue by leasing tollgate licenses to businesses. Rakhine’s state government has earned K94 million, about $68,600, for license it sold for the 2017/2018 fiscal year.
Source: Myanmar Business Today
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