On 1 January 2008 windshield vignettes were removed from the motorway toll system: motorists are provided only with a voucher when they purchase authorisation to use the road. When purchasing e-vignettes, it is even more important than ever that drivers check all data before confirmation.
The Ministry of Transport has decided to remove physical vignettes from the toll system in January 2008. However, the channels through which authorisation for road use can be obtained will remain the same under the new e-system: Tickets can be purchased at SMMC’s customer service offices and points of sale; retailers; petrol stations; via text message; online; via landline and mobile phones. After the transaction, customers will receive a voucher and a confirmation message to be kept for one year from the last day of the validity period, as the excess charge payment obligation expires a year after issue. SMMC may also continue to post fine notifications within 60 days.
The new system enables a more convenient and faster service and eliminates the costs of printing and distributing physical vignettes. These expenses amounted to around HUF 250 million in 2007. The Coordination Centre for Transport Development will use these extra resources for road development and operation.
The changes will not affect the monitoring methods of authorisation, which will continue to be based on vehicle registration numbers. SMMC calls attention to the relevant legal regulations, according to which the use of motorway sections subject to a toll is only permitted if a valid vignette is purchased prior to entering the motorway. It is also important to bear in mind that the signature of motorists purchasing vignettes in person – and the reply message of those buying vignettes via SMS – confirms the validity of the indicated data (licence plate number, toll category, starting date of validity), therefore it is highly recommended to check this data before signing the receipt or sending a reply message.
Based on SMMC’s sales results, the number of vignettes sold continues to show a dynamic increase. In the first 11 months of 2007, motorists purchased 25% more vignettes than in the corresponding period last year, resulting in a 38% rise in revenue. This represents a gross sum of HUF 44.7 billion in 2007, compared to HUF 32.4 billion in 2006. Similarly, a growing number of motorists prefers to purchase their vignettes through electronic channels. In the first 11 months of the year, travellers have purchased over 834,000 vignettes via mobile phones or online, yielding revenue close to HUF 1.3 billion.
GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE VIGNETTE SYSTEM
The vignette system was introduced in Hungary to replace of the previously used tollgate system, and it became popular very quickly, for it enabled the drivers to use the motorways all around the country in a unified and convenient way, and at an acceptable price level. The e-vignette system, introduced on 1 January 2008 follows the tradition of its ancestor, only without paper.
To maintain Hungary’s expanding motorway network and the level of its services would be impossible without a financial contribution from the road users. In Hungary, this contribution is represented by a fee, paid for motorway vignettes (e-vignettes from 1 January 2008). The main advantages of this system, introduced in January 2001, are that it is unified (from 2004), since it is valid for all Hungarian motorways, and that it is convenient, since the road use authorisation can be purchased through a number of channels (internet, SMS, phone call). Its disadvantage however is that the distance of the road usage is not considered, therefore the system is more favourable for those using the motorways regularly and over long distances, compared to those using the motorways just occasionally.
Time proportionate or flat rate based systems are becoming outdated from a service-payment philosophy point of view, as well with regards the efficiency of monitoring. It is outdated, since conforming to EU recommendations an idea is becoming more and more accepted, according to which only those should pay for a service, who actually use it, and then only to an extent that is proportionate with the usage. The tollgate system, replaced in Hungary in 2001, was more in line with this philosophy. Despite its mentioned disadvantages, the vignette-based toll payment become popular in Hungary very quickly because the authorisation to use the motorway became available at an acceptable price level and in a unified system.
It is a speciality of the Hungarian system that the purchase of the road use authorisations is based on car registration numbers, which makes us unique among the countries using a vignette system. The database that stores the registration numbers enables us to perform camera controls, which is of great significance from several points of views over the long term. On the one hand, because the first phase of this process does not require human labour and can be performed on a continuous basis (day and night), on the other hand, because this system is also suitable for controlling more modern usage proportionate toll systems. It might sound odd, but introducing this registration number database-based control solution was actually the first investment in the history of Hungary's toll collection that did not only consider the current situation, but also the future.
According to experts, the e-vignette system will become increasingly uneconomical and inconvenient in the short term due to the immense extent of motorway developments, meaning that the operation, maintenance and renovation of the existing motorways will become increasingly difficult in the future. It will become less and less acceptable for drivers to purchase authorisation for several days or weeks, which they could use over hundreds of kilometres, if they only want to drive over short sections. The introduction of an electronic, usage-proportionate toll collection system in Hungary is planned for 2009 – though probably just for trucks at first.
Until the introduction of the usage proportionate payment system, one of the main tasks of the organisations and companies commissioned to collect the tolls is to make the purchasing process simpler, more convenient and reliable for the road users. According to this objective, recent large scale IT developments have made it possible to purchase road use authorisation over several channels in addition to the traditional way: over mobile phones (phone call or SMS) and over the internet.
The unified Hungarian e-vignette-based toll collection system currently features four vehicle categories. The categories are based on the maximum permissible total weight of the vehicles. Drivers can purchase e-vignettes for one calendar year, one month (until the same day of the following month), one week (the day of purchase and nine more days), as well as for four days (the day of purchase and three more days) in the D1 category and for one day in the D category. The price of the e-vignettes and the size of the fines are determined by the Ministry of Economy and Transport.