The end of tolls on the old SCUT could cost 4.3 billion euros by 2040, the year in which motorway concessions end.
The bill could be much more expensive than the government and the Socialist Party predict.
The end of tolls on the former SCUT approved in Parliament with the favorable votes of the PS and the entire left and with the support of Chega could cost 4.3 billion euros over the next 15 years.
To the 1.5 billion estimated by the Government it is necessary to add the additional charges which, according to the newspaper Dinheiro Vivo, could amount to 2.8 billion euros by 2040, the year in which the concessions with Infraestruturas de Portugal come to an end, the State company that manages the country’s highways.
The Government says that next year the measure will cost Terreiro do Paço’s coffers 180 million euros. The PS points to 157 million.
The end of tolls on the ex-SCUT covers the A4, between Porto and Bragança, the A13, between Torres Novas and Coimbra and the A13-1, known as the Coimbra radial.
In addition to these, also the A23 between Torres Novas and Guarda and the A24, between Viseu and Chaves, A25, between Aveiro and Vilar Formoso.
They also join the A28, partially, in the sections between Esposende and Antas, and also Via do Infante, in the Algarve.
SCUT are a road model at no cost to users. The State paid a variable income to private parties for construction and maintenance.
Concession contracts have been revised over the years and the model of rents paid has also changed.
Public-private road partnerships are the ones that weigh the most in budgetary terms for the State.
The debate about paying tolls began during the Government of Durão Barroso, but it was in 2010 with José Sócrates in power that users started paying tolls in the now ex-SCUT.
