The proposal to update motorway tolls by 10% for 2023 is “a brutal blow to the budget of families and businesses,” the Automóvel Club de Portugal (ACP) said in a statement Friday.
“The proposal of the concessionaires is, as is the practice, in line with the inflation value,” reads the same note, reminding the ACP that “Portugal records record inflation rates for the past 30 years and, if forecasts confirmed, the toll increase will be from 1 January around 10%”.
According to the ACP, “to that must be added all the increases that have gradually harassed motorists and taxpayers at large: fuel, electricity, gas, food, housing, and so many other essential goods.”
The ACP also revealed that there is “another consequence if tolls rise: traffic accidents”, noting that “by pushing light and heavy vehicles en masse onto national roads, many of which are unable to handle heavy traffic, it is expected that the road safety and the increase in the number of accidents and casualties”.
According to the ACS, the proposal to update toll prices on motorways is therefore brutal for the budget of households and companies.
On Tuesday, Ascendi proposed to the government an increase in tolls of 10.44% in 2023, the same amount as the same inflation in October without housing, but the concessionaire admitted that it is up to the state to determine the final value.
“Updating the toll rates for the concessions and sub-concessions managed by Ascendi results directly from the application of the conditions laid down in the concession contracts, based on the variation of the IPC [Índice de Preços no Consumidor] of October of the current year versus October of the previous year (10.44%)”, the concession holder stated in a written response to bureau Lusa. But, he added, in the case of these concessions, the toll revenues belong to the Portuguese state, with the state having the power to determine the final value of the fees to be charged.
In the same vein, Brisa last Friday referred to the newspaper Eco that “in accordance with the provisions of the concession contract with the State, the price of tolls for next year will be calculated on the basis of the inflation recorded in October of this year (remove the housing effect)” .
However, the communications director of the country’s largest highway concessionaire, Franco Caruso, added that “Brisa remains available to negotiate mitigating solutions with the state”.
However, Brisa’s communications director reiterated that position in response to Lusa.
Motorway concessionaires had until November 15 to submit their 2023 pricing proposals to the government, after which the state had 30 days to comment.
Source: DN
