Toll Collect Offers New Start Date for Truck Tolls

The consortium responsible for deploying Germany’s first toll system for heavy trucks on Friday said it would categorically refuse to pay damages caused by technical glitches that have kept the government from introducing the toll. The company has refused to pay retroactive or future damages, the newsweekly Focus reported. Despite the major technical problems and its ongoing dispute with the Transportation Ministry, consortium executives said they could deliver a successful start during the third quarter of 2004, one year later than originally planned. For each month the system is not in place, the government loses an estimated €156 million in revenue. Deutsche Telekom, DaimlerChrysler and France’s Cofiroute are all partners in the Toll Collect consortium. If the company fails to reach an agreement for launching the service, the Transportation Ministry has said it could terminate its contract with Toll Collect.