Road pricing is back on the agenda: ministers plan tax on kilometres

Ministers are working on new plans to bring in some form of road pricing in the Netherlands, which means that drivers would pay a fee for every kilometre they travel.

The plan, which would cover journeys abroad and trips made by electric car, should be ready to come into effect from 2030, cabinet sources have told the Telegraaf.

The paper says ministers Mark Harbers (infrastructure) and Marnix van Rij (tax) will present their first ideas shortly. The sources say the aim is for a simple tax, which would cover every kilometre driven, rather than a rush hour tax or other system.

The coalition agreement does include a commitment to switching to a system of ‘paying for use’ for motorists.

One practical problem which needs to be solved is the question of how kilometres are to be registered. This could be done via the vehicle licencing authority or during the annual APK road worthiness check, the Telegraaf said. There are a number of practical issues with the idea of a real time registration system, not least of which are the privacy aspects.

There has been growing support for some kind of flat tax on motoring over the past few years.

In 2009 the then transport minister Camiel Eurlings dropped plans to introduce road pricing from 2011 because it would be too complex and would cost too much to run.