On the 1st of April Dars activated an electronic toll system for heavy vehicles for the first time. Over the next few months, it will also dismantle most of the toll stations.

At midnight on the 31st of March the old style toll system for all domestic and foreign heavy vehicles was retired. With the new system, these vehicles will need a DarsGo device, which costs 10 euros and communicates with terminals located across the motorway network. The terminals will track the number of kilometres travelled by a vehicle and a toll will be charged automatically. The charge will also be determined by the level of exhaust gases emitted by a vehicle.

Branka Videtič, director of tolling systems at Dars, stressed that there is a toll calculator available on their website, where users can check in advance the amount of credit they need. The charge will be based on the length of the journey, the vehicle's type and its emission class.

Fines for evading or the incorrect use of the toll system differ – between 800 and 1,000 euros for the heavy vehicle driver. The person responsible will have to pay an additional 800 euros, while private entrepreneurs and legal entities will be charged a fine of 1,200 or 2,000 euros.
The system resembles that in Austria
Dars does not expect any major complications following the launch of the new system, not even among foreigners, because, says Videtič, the system is very similar to that in Austria, with which the majority of haulage companies are familiar. However, problems may be caused by latecomers, who failed to purchase DarsGo devices, even though Dars had been publicising the change since November. Fortunately, the new system was launched over the long holiday weekend during which a ban on heavy vehicles was in place. Complications are expected only from Tuesday morning.

Following the introduction of the electronic toll system, most of the toll stations will be dismantled by the end of the year with the remainder the next year.