As part of the consolidation package, the government proposes to raise the price of the annual highway stamp from CZK 1,500 to CZK 2,300, while the ten-day and monthly electronic coupons are to be cheaper. Starting next March, it will be possible to purchase a one-day stamp.
The Ministry of Transport will introduce a one-day motorway stamp from March next year. It will cost 200 crowns. While the annual stamp is to increase in price from CZK 1,500 to CZK 2,300, the ten-day coupon will drop by CZK 40 to CZK 270, and the monthly ticket will cost CZK 430 instead of CZK 440. This follows from the draft amendment to the Act on Roads, which was presented today by the Minister of Transport Martin Kupka (ODS).
When setting prices, starting next year, the Czech Republic had to follow the European Eurovignette directive, which specifies that the monthly rate must be a maximum of 19 percent of the annual fee, ten-day rates up to 12 percent, and daily rates up to nine percent. The total revenue from the sale of stamps should increase by 1.3 billion crowns next year from last year’s roughly 5.8 billion crowns.
“We were looking for a compromise, how to keep the price of the annual coupon at an affordable level and at the same time so that the short-term stamps could be a significant income for the use of the highway network,” said Kupka. The annual stamp has not increased in price since 2012, and according to Kupka, the price increase only includes inflation over the last ten years. The Government’s National Economic Council recommended an increase in the price to CZK 3,000.
In the future, the price of highway stamps should be regularly valued in such a way as to take into account the development of inflation. The prices of the stamp will increase cumulatively so that the price is always set at whole hundred crowns.
At the same time, the European directive allows only zero-emission electric or hydrogen vehicles to waive the time fee for using motorways. Hybrid vehicles with a combined amount of emissions of up to 50 g CO2/km, which are completely exempt until now, will pay 25 percent of the time charge rate. For vehicles in the time charging system powered by natural gas or biomethane, the rate of preference will remain at the current level of 50 percent of the rate.
The ministry also wants to intensify the prosecution of overloaded trucks. This year, it will put a seventh scale into operation and by the end of next year, it wants to have 12 high-speed scales.
Currently, the domestic highway network has 1,365 kilometers, of which 226 are toll-free. 226.5 kilometers have been added over the last ten years. The minister added that next year 100 kilometers of new highways will be put into operation, and by 2025 it should be 200. The entire highway network should be completed within ten years.
Motorway tolls in the Czech Republic were introduced on January 1, 1995. Initially, stickers were used, and from 2021 coupons were replaced by electronic stamps.
