The government is yet to make a decision on whether it will allow increases for toll charges on highways across the country for the year 2015, Works Minister Fadillah Yusof said today.

The government is expected the make a decision by the end of the year, after weighing in the impact on living costs and also, its financial feasibility to pay compensations to the concessionaires, Fadillah said.

However, the ministry has already set aside RM558.69 million to pay as compensation to the 20 highway concessionaires who are due to raise the toll rates next year.

"This amount will be used for other development projects if the government decides to allow tolls to be raised, which means no compensation needs to be paid," Fadillah ( left ) told a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.

If the government continued to choose to pay compensation to the toll concessionaires to avoid toll hikes, he said, the compensation amount will rise each year, with more highway concessionaires being entitled to raise tolls every year.

For 2014, the government said it paid out RM400 million as compensation to toll concessionaires.

Fadillah however said that he personally felt that it would be better to allow toll hikes and have the budget allocated be used for other projects.

“I think it is better to allow the toll hikes and not use the money to compensate the concessionaires. Because the government must always look for the allocation to pay these concessionaires,” he said.

“The compensation amount will increase every year,” he added.

He said that the Finance Ministry had approved RM458 million out of the RM558 million projected compensation amount under the 2015 Budget and the rest will then be added on at the ministry’s request next year if the government decides not to raise tolls.

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