Motorways: Codacons, refunds ok but watch out for toll increases

“The new system of reimbursements for motorway tolls presents lights and shadows which on the one hand risk limiting the right to compensation in favor of users, on the other hand shifting the expense incurred by the motorway companies for refreshments onto the motorists themselves”. This was stated by Codacons, which expresses “strong doubts” about the news announced by the Transport Regulatory Authority.

“The reimbursement mechanism has some flaws ploy which could be used by motorway managers to their advantage to limit the provision of compensation to motorists – explains Codacons – for example the reimbursement is not due if a general toll reduction has already been foreseen for the route, a situation which in certain circumstances could lead managers to reduce tariffs on some particularly critical routes, in order to contain the expense linked to potential reimbursements to motorists”.

And he continues: “They will be later excluded from compensationalso the inconveniences related to mobile construction sitesvery present on the network”.

On the front of inefficiencies due to traffic blockage, however, “the right to full reimbursement of the toll is triggered only if the motorist remains imprisoned for even more than 3 hours on the motorway, while between 60 and 119 minutes the reimbursement will only be equal to 50% – Codacons further reports – but the most critical aspect concerns the possibility for motorway companies to fully recover the expense for the reimbursements granted increasing toll rates.

As envisaged by Art, in fact, due to construction site delays, operators will be able to recover 100% of the expenditure incurred until 2027 (75% in 2028, 50% in 2029 and 25% in 2030), while reimbursements linked to the blocking of traffic can be entirely recovered by concessionaires through the toll if the concessionaire demonstrates force majeure, compliance with information constraints and the adoption of all the measures necessary to overcome the event”.

In essence, this is the final reflection, “it will be the motorists themselves, through motorway tolls, who will pay out of their own pockets the reimbursements granted for delays and traffic blockages”.