Are Toll Freezes Draining Taxpayers’ Money?

Pressure is mounting on the government to declassify highway concession agreements and rethink toll policy, as critics warn that repeated toll freezes funded by public compensation are fiscally unsustainable and unfair to taxpayers.

Transport economist Dr Rosli Azad Khan said concession agreements remain hidden under the Official Secrets Act, denying the public visibility over how taxpayer money is committed. Speaking to the New Straits Times, he said declassification would improve transparency, strengthen accountability and allow for a fairer toll framework.

Rosli argued that freezing toll rates offers short-term relief to motorists but simply shifts the cost to taxpayers through compensation payments. He described the practice as “double taxation”, with the public paying tolls while also funding compensation via taxes, effectively protecting private operators with public funds.

Meanwhile, Universiti Teknologi Mara’s Dr Mohamad Idham Md Razak said toll compensation has become a quasi-subsidy that disproportionately benefits higher-income households reliant on private vehicles. Since 2016, RM7.7 billion has been spent on such payments, money he said could have delivered far greater returns if invested in public transport.

Although this year’s RM591.5 million allocation to freeze toll hikes on 10 highways signals some fiscal restraint, Idham said it fails to address the underlying problem. He called for renegotiated concession terms, including variable tolling, partial buybacks or revenue-sharing models, to reduce dependence on recurring compensation.

Transport think tank MY Mobility Vision echoed these concerns. Co-founder Rahman Hussin said toll compensation is effectively a broad-based subsidy for private car use, paid for by all Malaysians, including rural communities and households without vehicles.

Rahman noted that successive governments have relied on compensation to defer toll hikes, with RM7.7 billion spent over the past decade. While this year’s allocation is among the lowest in recent years, based on figures reported, he said the funds could instead support thousands of daily bus trips or expanded feeder services.

Instead, compensation has become a recurring expense that stabilises toll rates without expanding capacity or reducing car dependence. He added that payments often extend to mature, profitable highways as well as weaker concessions.

Rahman and former deputy transport minister Datuk Ab Aziz Kaprawi urged the government to redirect funds from toll compensation towards system-wide transport improvements, including better bus services and first- and last-mile connectivity.

With the National Transport Policy targeting lower private vehicle dependence and higher public transport use, critics say the continued reliance on toll compensation runs counter to national goals, raising questions over how long Malaysia can afford to keep freezing its transport choices.

Source: NST , NST