UNTRR warns that the road toll could increase the cost of domestic transport by up to 25%

The road toll could increase the cost of transport on national routes by approximately 10%-25%, warns Daniel Niculescu, president of the National Union of Road Hauliers of Romania (UNTRR). He made the statement on Wednesday, at a press conference, amid the accelerated rise in operating costs.

According to the UNTRR representative, the price of diesel has increased by more than 40% since the beginning of the year, driving up transport costs by approximately 12%-16%. Customers accepted price increases of around 9%, meaning that hauliers continue to bear a difference of 3%-7%.

In the hauliers' view, the introduction of the road toll represents a second financial shock. Companies estimate that they will not be able to pass the additional costs on to customers in full and that, over the next two months, they will bear most of the toll.

The problems are compounded by malfunctions of the TollRo platform. Hauliers complain about the risk of fines of up to 2,000 lei when the application does not work or the route is not determined correctly. Some companies have had to purchase compatible phones and bear additional costs for data and monitoring.

CNAIR announced that the technical incidents identified on October 1 had been resolved. Drivers will not be penalized if it is proven that they attempted to pay the toll but payment was not possible because of technical problems.