Nga Kor Ming: Highway Firms Should Offer 50% Toll Discount During Festive Seasons As CSR
The minister said highway concessionaires should "give back to society" during festive seasons.
Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming hopes that expressway concessionaires will offer a 50% discount on toll fees during festive seasons
Speaking to China Press, Nga urged 32 highway concessionaires to "give back to society" during festive seasons as a token of appreciation for the people and to demonstrate corporate social responsibility (CSR).
"Now that their profits are abundant, [I hope] they can at least offer a 50% discount for the people during Chinese New Year, allowing everyone to celebrate and participate in the festive joy," said the DAP vice-chairperson.
He added that the current toll agreements do not have clauses for exemptions, which is why the government funded all past exemptions.
Nga said he will bring the matter up at the cabinet meeting this Friday, 24 January, to discuss potential changes to the implementation.
Yesterday, 21 January, Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi announced that the government has decided to abolish toll exemptions during festive seasons for Class 1 vehicles
He said the decision was made during a cabinet meeting last year.
According to Berita Harian, the government spent an average of RM20 million a day for toll exemptions during festive seasons. Here is the total expenditure for 2024:
- Hari Raya Aidilfitri: RM80.07 million
- Deepavali: RM42.31 million
- Chinese New Year: RM41.21 million
- Christmas: RM38 million
Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (FOMCA) chief executive officer Dr T Saravanan suggested that the government could use the Principal Database System (PADU) to implement the targeted toll exemptions for low-income groups such as the B40 and M40, reported Berita Harian.
Starting this year, Malaysians will no longer enjoy the usual toll exemptions during festive periods:
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