DUSHANBE, May 11, 2010, Asia-Plus — The Antimonopoly Committee under the Government of Tajikistan has asked the Government to set up a special commission to check the toll road operations on the Dushanbe-Khujand-Chanak highway.
The Antimonopoly Committee head Amonullo Ashour told Asia-Plus today that they recently submitted a detailed report on activities of Innovative Road Solutions (IRS) that manages the highway for consideration to the Government. “In this report, we have asked the Government to set up a special commission made up of representatives from relevant ministries and departments and president’s office to check the toll road operations,” said Mr. Ashour, “We also requested that drivers not be charged for using the highway until the government makes decision on this subject.”
Mr. Ashour reminded that the toll road is now operating illegally.
We will recall that Amonullo Ashour told Asia-Plus on May 5 that IRS was permitted to operate the toll at previously agreed prices on the Dushanbe-Chanak highway for one month, in April, and that the toll road operation since May 1 is illegal. Mr. Ashour said that under the agreement between the company and the government, IRS was required to coordinate its pricing policy with the antimonopoly agency and to review the toll rates after April. He added that the antimonopoly agency on May 4 sent a written ruling on suspension of the road toll management mechanism for the Dushanbe-Khujand-Chanak highway to IRS and copies of the ruling were sent to the Ministry of Transport Communications and the administration of the Varzob district.
The antimonopoly committee head noted today that according to data of the antimonopoly committee, one of two toll plazas installed on the Dushanbe-Khujand-Chanak highway alone collected tolls for some 100,000 U.S. dollars in April.
By a ruling of May 4 the antimonopoly agency gave IRS seven days to submit its reports and new tariffs for further coordination to the agency, Ashour said. “If IRS ignores our ruling, the case will go to the economic court,” he said.
Under the mechanism of road toll management for the Dushanbe-Khujand-Chanak highway that was introduced on April 1, vehicles are charged per kilometer; cars, trucks with load capacity of up to two tons and buses with no more than 19 seats pay 30 dirams (0.3 somoni) per kilometer, while trucks with load capacity of 2 to 7 tons and buses with 20 to 39 seats pay 60 dirams per kilometer, and trucks with load capacity of 7 to 14 tons and buses with more than 40 seats pay 1.50 somoni per kilometer. Heavy trucks with load capacity of 14 and more tons pay 1.88 somoni per kilometer. To-date, two toll stations have been built on this highway connecting the center and the north of Tajikistan. In all, seven toll service stations will be built on this highway.
