Sanral writes off R3.6bn e-toll bills
PRESCRIBED: BUT SANRAL STILL PLANS PROSECUTIONS
But it still plans to try and recover non-prescribed debt by pursuing defaulters in courts.
Unpaid bills last year counted as revenue but agency throws in towel.
The SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) has thrown in the towel over e-toll debts older than three years and written off R3.6 billion in the 2017 financial year of this debt. However, it will continue to try and recover unpaid e-toll bills by pursuing defaulters in the courts.
A year ago, Moneyweb first raised questions over the recoverability of these old debts in terms of the Prescription Act, which makes it difficult for creditors to recover certain debts older than three years.
Last year, Sanral counted unpaid e-tolls as revenue, even though there was little chance of ever seeing this money due to the protest movement led by Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa). The write-off of this older debt was signed off by the auditor-general.
So long as Sanral recognises that any debt over three years’ old should not be counted, it will be under pressure to find a resolution in the courts to recover unpaid e-toll bills. If this drags on another year, it will have to write off another chunk of unpaid e-toll bills next year.
Outa says the most telling sign of Sanral’s financial woes is the increased loss posted, at just under R5 billion, which is substantively up from the R1.2 billion loss last year, the bulk of which (R4.58 billion) arises from toll operations.
“However, it was the change of heart in Sanral’s treatment of its outstanding e-toll debt, when compared to last year, where one notices the processing of impairment losses of R3.6 billion relating to e-toll debts that were written off,” says Outa chairperson Wayne Duvenage.
“Last year, virtually no outstanding debt was written off, as Sanral had pinned its hopes on the 60% discount gaining traction in the following financial period. This year, the massive R3.6 billion is a significant acknowledgement that e-toll debt is largely unable to be collected.”
The company collected R1.85 billion from e-tolls over the year.