The tender for electronic tolls within 2021

Charging motorists tolls by distance travelled is not too far away. Following the establishment of the single transceiver on the country’s highways, which proved to be a particularly complex project, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport is in the process of bidding for the innovative electronic toll system with proportional charges, which will be implemented in a public-private partnership. It is expected to air in 2021.

In fact, the project of developing a reliable, economical, and user-friendly interoperable electronic toll system for all of Greece is included in the national recovery plan. The resources that are expected to be earmarked for this project from the Recovery Fund amount to 65 million euros. However, as the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Mr. Costas Karamanlis, has said, the new tender will take into account the European data.

Olympia Odos is implementing a hybrid toll system that achieves a kilometer charge from January 1, 2021 for its subscribers. Practically, the e-pass user of the highway passes the tolls and is charged the conventional price corresponding to each station. However, on the way out of Olympia Odos, the Hybrid system recognizes the transceiver and immediately returns the difference for the kilometers that were not travelled.

The ignominious end of the previous competition

The first tender for electronic tolls in the country, which was started by the previous government that was in a hurry to nominate a temporary contractor (AKTOR-Intrakat) a few days before the elections, did not have a positive outcome. The final word was given to the Council of State, to which Mytilineos S.A. had appealed, among the participants, with the main object of disputing the way of evaluating the technical offer. The appeal was finally upheld.

The concessionaires from the beginning had expressed serious reservations regarding the subject of the tender, but also regarding the time-consuming procedures that would be required in order for the electronic system to be applied to all Greek highways. In fact, the existing concession contracts would have to be amended and re-passed by the Parliament, a fact that would probably cast doubt on the bank financing of the contracts, as the viability and collection of tolls would have to be documented.