'Free Hi-Pass Users'... Last Year's Billing Issuance Cost Alone '4.3 Billion KRW'

16.15 Million Unauthorized Passes Until August
24.2 Million Expected by Year-End
Unpaid Amount Likely to Reach 63.1 Billion Won

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Although the usage of Hi-Pass has been increasing every year, the number of ‘free pass’ drivers who do not pay toll fees has also risen, resulting in tens of billions of won in tax money being wasted annually on issuing bills and related processes.

On the 8th, one day before the Chuseok holiday, traffic congestion continues on the southbound lanes (right side) of the Gyeongbu Expressway as seen from Jamwon IC in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

According to the ‘Hi-Pass usage rate, unauthorized passage cases, and unpaid toll status over the past five years’ submitted by Korea Expressway Corporation to the office of Kim Du-kwan, a member of the National Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, as of August this year, the Hi-Pass usage rate was 88.1%, an increase of 7.5 percentage points from 80.6% in 2018. However, as the usage rate increased, the number of drivers who do not pay highway tolls also rose. The number of unauthorized Hi-Pass passages, which was 18.16 million cases in 2018, increased by 20.8% to 21.943 million cases last year over four years.

Up to August this year, 16.151 million vehicles passed without paying the toll. If this pace continues, it is expected to reach about 24.226 million cases by the end of the year. In terms of amount, it is projected to reach 63.1 billion won.

The unpaid amount has steadily increased from 46.6 billion won in 2018 to 50.9 billion won in 2019, 51.8 billion won in 2020, and 58 billion won in 2021.

Many cases of non-payment are temporary, due to reasons such as not having a Hi-Pass device installed or insufficient balance on prepaid cards, but the number of habitual ‘free pass’ drivers who maliciously avoid paying highway tolls is also increasing every year.

To collect these unpaid amounts, the Expressway Corporation sends unpaid notice bills each time, which also incurs tens of billions of won in costs annually.

The cost of sending unpaid notices last year was 4.3 billion won. This year, as of August alone, 3.2 billion won has already been spent. Through these bill issuances and related efforts, the collection rate of unpaid tolls was 75.6%, with 31.8 billion won recovered out of 42.1 billion won in unpaid amounts this year, and 10.3 billion won still being collected.

Assemblyman Kim said, "When bills are sent, many vehicles pass through Hi-Pass lanes without installing Hi-Pass devices, thinking they will pay later," and added, "As the number of unauthorized passage vehicles increases, the administrative effort and tax money mobilized also increase, so measures need to be prepared to address this."