Ljubljana, 22 January (STA) - National motorway company DARS sold EUR 188.3m worth of toll stickers between 1 December 2017 and 30 November 2018, a year-on-year increase of roughly 4%. The total number of toll stickers sold was up 5% to 7.29m. The December 2018 sale of stickers for 2019 also saw a 5% increase both in the number of stickers and in revenue.
The total number of yearly 2018 stickers sold reached 903,299, which is 4% more than for 2017. The number of yearly stickers for personal vehicles was up 4% to 846,715, for multi-purpose vehicles by 7% to 54,606, while it fell by 7% for motorcycles, to 1,978.
Sales of weekly toll stickers increased by 5% to 4.83m and were up across the board; for personal vehicles by 4% to 4.52m, for multi-purpose vehicles by 4% to 263,940 and for motorcycles by 9% to 54,070.
The total increase for monthly stickers was also 5%, with 1.53m sold, 1.47m of which for personal vehicles. While the increase for personal vehicles was 5%, the number for multi-purpose vehicles rose by 10% to 65,466.
The rise for six-month stickers, which only exist for motorcycles, corresponded to the general trend, meaning a 5% increase to 17,083.
Meanwhile, the boom continued in December 2018, when the sale began of stickers for this year. DARS sold EUR 21.97m worth of stickers for 2019 in the first month, which is EUR 1.06m or around 5% more than in December 2017. 552,478 of stickers for 2019 were sold in December, also a 5% increase.
The penalty for using the motorway without a toll sticker is EUR 300. If the driver has tampered with the sticker, for instance with the purpose of using it on different vehicles, the penalty is EUR 500.
DARS's inspectors issued 37,698 fines in 2018, which is 67% less than in 2017 and the lowest number so far.
The company explained that this was the result of the introduction of the electronic tolling system for cargo vehicles in April. Starting with April, the inspectors are also overseeing this system, with "procedures for cargo vehicle being more demanding and above all more time-consuming".