Germany’s lower house, or Bundestag, has finally approved the decision to impose tolls on highways and major roads in Germany. However, there is still some uncertainty if the decision will hold up in court.
Germany’s Bundestag votes for more tolls in a two-tier system
A toll badge will cost drivers of German-registered cars up to €130 a year, depending on the car’s age, emissions and engine size. Owners of foreign-registered cars will be able to buy a toll pass for a year’s duration, ten days or two months.
The controversy, and why the tolls may not uphold in court, is that the new system is two-tier: one for German-registered vehicles and one for foreigner-registered vehicles.
Owners of German-registered vehicles will have the cost of the tolls offset by a cut in vehicle tax; foreigners travelling in Germany will not be able to benefit from the tax cut. Hence, the European Commission warned in December last year that the toll would be discriminatory.
According to the news broadcaster DW – Deutsche Welle – drivers of foreign-registered vehicles who travel regularly across Germany’s borders for their work will not be charged the toll.
DW also reports there will be an exemption from the tolls for motor bikes, electric vehicles, cars used by handicapped people and ambulances.
A statement from Alexander Dobrindt, the Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (the BMVI or Bundesministerium für Verkehr und digitale Infrastruktur), also confirmed that HGV (Lkw or Lastkraftwagen) tolls will be extended from 1 July 2015 to an additional 1,100 km of near motorway standard four-lane federal highways. A map of the federal highways that are to be tolled as of 1 July can be found at here.
From 1 October 2015 on, HGVs with a maximum permissible weight between 7.5 and 12 tonnes will be integrated in the tolling system.
The new toll system for cars will roll out in 2016. The exact date is yet to be confirmed.
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Read more about driving in Germany.
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