Administrative Regulations on Toll Roads
Order of the State Council of the People's Republic of
(No.417)
September 13, 2004
The Administrative Regulations on Toll Roads, which was adopted at the 61st executive meeting of the State Council on August 18, 2004, is hereby promulgated, and shall come into force as of November 1, 2004.
Premier Wen Jiabao
Administrative Regulations on Toll Roads
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 The present Regulation is formulated in accordance with the Highway Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Highway Law) for the purpose of strengthening the administration on toll roads, regulating the toll collection acts on toll roads, maintaining the lawful rights and interests of the business operators and users of toll roads, and promoting the development of road industry.
Article 2 The "toll roads" as mentioned in the present Regulation, shall refer to the roads (including bridges and tunnels), which comply with the Highway Law and the provisions of the present Regulation, and in which vehicle tolls are collected according to law upon approval.
Article 3 The people's governments at all levels shall take positive measures to support and promote the development of highway industry. The highway development shall focus on non-toll roads, and properly develop toll roads.
Article 4 No vehicle tolls may be charged on the road, which is constructed through government investment or donation of public organizations or individuals.
Article 5 No entity or individual may set up any booth or checkpoint on roads to collect vehicle tolls in violation of the Highway Law and the provisions of the present Regulation.
Article 6 Any entity or individual shall have the right to refuse the payment of vehicle tolls charged illegally by any one who illegally sets up toll booth or checkpoint on highways.
For the acts as illegally establishing tollbooths or checkpoints on highways, illegally collecting or using vehicle tolls, illegally transferring the rights and interests of toll roads or illegally extending the time limit for toll collection, etc., any entity or individual shall have the right to report to the departments of traffic, price or finance, etc.. The department that has received such report shall make investigation and handling in time according to the division of functions. If it does not have the right to investigate into and handle it, it shall transfer it immediately to the department that has such right. The department accepting the case shall make investigation and handling within 10 days upon receipt of such report or the materials transferred.
Article 7 The business operator of any toll road shall have the right to collect vehicle tolls on vehicles passing through the toll road according to law upon approval.
Vehicle tolls shall be exempted for the vehicles of troops and armed police troops, the police wagons with uniform marks which are used for handling traffic accident, execution of ordinary patrolling tasks or disposing emergencies on toll roads within the jurisdiction of a public security organ, and the vehicles used for execution of emergency rescue and relief tasks upon the approval of the competent communications department of the State Council and the people's government of the province, autonomous region, and municipality directly under the Central Government.
Vehicle tolls shall be exempted for vehicles of combines and transportation combines (including rice transplanter) making trans-regional operation. No combine may pass through freeways.
Article 8 No entity or individual may illegally interfere in the business management of any toll road in any form, or seize or embezzle vehicle tolls collected by any business operator of any toll road according to law.
Chapter II Construction of Toll Roads and Setup of Toll Booths
Article 9 The construction of any toll road shall comply with the highway development plan of the state and the province, autonomous region, and municipality directly under the Central Government, and comply with the technical level and scale of the toll road as prescribed by the present Regulation.
Article 10 The vehicle tolls for the road constructed by the competent communications department of the people's government at or above the county level through making use of loans or raising funds onerously to enterprises or individuals (hereinafter referred to as the roads whose loans are repaid by the government), road constructed with the investment of economic organizations both home and abroad or whose toll rights on the road, with the loans of which being repaid by the government, are assigned in accordance with the Highway Law (hereinafter referred to as the for-profit roads) may not be collected until it has been approved according to law.
Article 11 The principle of separating governmental functions and institution management shall be followed for the construction and management of highways whose loans are repaid by the government, and a special non-profit making legal person organization shall be established according to law.
The competent communications department of any people's government of the province, autonomous region, and municipality directly under the Central Government may implement unified administration, unified granting of loans and unified repayment of loans on the roads whose loans are repaid by the government within its own administrative region.
The for-profit road construction projects shall be announced to the general public, and the investors shall be chosen by way of bid invitation or tendering.
The for-profit road shall be constructed, operated and managed by a road enterprise legal person established according to law.
Article 12 The setup of toll booths on toll roads shall be subject to the examination and approval of the people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government according to the following provisions:
1. No toll booth may be established on the main lane of any highway and other closed toll roads apart from the entry and exit in the two ends, unless there is real necessity to set up tollbooths between provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government. And
2. The space between two neighboring toll booths shall be no less than 50 kilometers in the same main road of a non-closed toll road.
Article 13 Tolls shall be collected through computer network on highways and other closed toll roads, so as to reduce toll booths and improve efficiency of driving through. The concrete measures for toll collection through internet shall be formulated by the competent communications department of the State Council together with the relevant departments of the State Council.
Article 14 The time limit for toll collection of any toll road shall be subject to the examination and approval of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government in light of the following standards:
1.
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