Unpaid Toll Cases: 138.3 Million Instances in 5 Years
13.59 Million Cases and 36.1 Billion Won in Unpaid Tolls
Jeong Jeom-sik: “Need to Strengthen Penalties”
[Seoul Economy] The number of “selfish vehicles” avoiding highway electronic toll payments is increasing every year, with one habitual offender discovered to have illegally passed through toll booths 846 times in one year.
According to data on “unpaid highway toll cases” received by Jeong Jeom-sik, a member of the National Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, from Korea Expressway Corporation, there have been a total of 138.3 million unpaid highway toll cases over the past five years (from 2019 to August 2024). Of these, 13.59 million cases (worth 36.1 billion won) remain unpaid.
While the unpaid rate was merely 6% (1.16 million cases) of the 19.29 million unpaid instances in 2019, it increased to 6.9% in 2022 and 8.8% in 2023, showing a rising trend each year. As of August this year, out of 21.9 million cases, 5.34 million remain unpaid (24.4%), highlighting the urgent need for strengthened collection measures. Criticism has arisen regarding the corporation’s insufficient preventive measures after discovering cases of individuals not paying tolls up to 846 times in a year.
The corporation currently follows a three-step notification process for unpaid tolls, which includes sending a notice, billing statement, and finally, a demand for payment. If no response occurs, they proceed with vehicle seizure after approval from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, and levy a surcharge equivalent to 10 times the unpaid toll amount.
Over five years, 5.129 million individuals have been surcharged for habitual and overdue toll non-payments, with 2.405 million of them incurring unresolved debts totaling approximately 58 billion won. The collection rate has also declined from 63.1% in 2019 to 46.9% in 2023 and further to 30.2% as of August this year.
Seizure of vehicles and electronic bank account garnish occurs for those with more than 20 instances of unpaid tolls and over 100,000 won in total unpaid fees. Criminal charges are pursued if there are more than 50 unpaid instances and unpaid fees exceed 1 million won. Consequently, 3,021 criminal charges have been filed. As toll evasion cases increase, the corporation dispatched a total of 75.94 million collection notices, consuming a budget of 26.235 billion won.
Jeong Jeom-sik criticized, stating, “Despite various measures from Korea Expressway Corporation to collect unpaid tolls, the increasing rate of unpaid highway tolls is a significant problem,” and emphasized the urgency of establishing measures including stricter penalty regulations as repetitive offenses are not effectively prevented or reduced.