The kilometre tax imposed in Belgium on trucks weighing over 3.5 tonnes is not working correctly, the Dutch Transport Federation, TLN, complained on Tuesday. It said the meters installed in trucks often have glitches, yet fines are imposed on truckers. However, Viapass, the state agency that coordinates the road toll system for Belgium’s three regions, has dismissed the claims.
The Dutch truckers say, for example, that it’s impossible to tell whether their meters are functioning properly. They add that when inspectors make checks, they collect all the pending fines even those that were duly contested. Dutch Minister of Infrastructure Melanie Schultz van Haegen has contacted Viapass in connection with the issue.
“Before summer, we’d already been in contact with the TLN,” said Viapass head Johan Schoups. ”They spoke of countless fines, but were unable to present two concrete files. Since them we haven’t heard anything from them. And now they have come back through the minister and the press. What must I say?”
According to Schoups, the system is working correctly. “Out of 400,000 daily inspections, we don’t have even 10 complaints,” he said. He also denied that it was impossible to know whether the meters were working or not. “We’ll contact TLN once again and ask them to give us concrete cases,” he added.
The Brussels Times
