"Paid Twice"... Highway Toll Overpayment, 770 Million Won Over 5 Years

Office of Rep. Kim Suheung: "Hi-Pass Overpayment Increasing Every Year"

It has been found that cases of duplicate payments due to errors in electronic toll payment systems such as Hi-Pass on highways are still frequent.

According to data received by Kim Suheung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, from Korea Expressway Corporation on the 1st, the total number of overpayments caused by Hi-Pass and one-tolling from 2019 to July of this year amounted to 310,000 cases, with a total amount of 775 million KRW.

[Photo by Korea Expressway Corporation Gwangju Jeonnam Headquarters] [Image source=Yonhap News]

From 2019 to 2022, the overpayment amount for 240,000 malfunction cases was approximately 560 million KRW. Within just one year, there were 70,000 error cases resulting in 215 million KRW in overpayments. The occurrence of Hi-Pass overpayments has been increasing every year.

On the other hand, there are also underpayment errors where less than the actual toll was paid. From 2019 to July of this year, there were 470,000 such cases amounting to 1.695 billion KRW, which is significantly higher than the overpayment amount.

The main causes of these errors were identified as malfunctions of Hi-Pass devices, communication delays, and contamination of vehicle license plates. Korea Expressway Corporation stated that it is making multifaceted efforts to reduce overpayments, including strengthening maintenance and management to optimize the performance of private mainline Hi-Pass systems and replacing outdated cameras. However, since the number of overpayment cases continues to increase in both Hi-Pass and one-tolling systems, urgent measures are needed.

The Expressway Corporation explained that refunds for overpayments are processed without any time limit. In the case of underpayments, additional collections were made for 86.6% of the total cases and 90.3% by amount. For overpayments, refunds were made for 90% of cases and 92.4% by amount in Hi-Pass. For one-tolling, the figures were 71.4% by cases and 80.3% by amount.

Representative Kim said, "The issue of excessive toll payments in highway payment systems has not improved," and added, "Fundamental solutions to the problems in Hi-Pass and one-tolling systems must be devised."