Austrian company Electronic Toll Collection has pocketed 74% of the money collected from motorists since the inception of e-tolls, according to the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse.
Outa said this calculation was based on Transport Minister Joseph Maswanganyi telling parliament that R2.9-billion had been collected in e-tolls from December 2013 to March this year, and that ETC had been paid R2.2-billion.
"This is a clear indication of how irrational the scheme has become and what makes matters worse is the compliance levels continue to decline.
"At an average of R55-million per month paid to ETC, and with the current e-toll income levels at about R63-million per month, virtually no money is going towards the e-toll bonds," Outa chairman Wayne Duvenage said yesterday.
This explained why SA National Roads Agency's recent bond auctions struggled to attract investors, Duvenage said.
Unpaid e-toll bills amounted to about R9.2-billion at the end of March, and Duvenage said he doubted Sanral would be able to collect a meaningful portion of this debt, regardless of litigation outcomes going forward.
"We believe our cases are all extremely strong.
"Not only are Sanral faced with a tough challenge when it comes to defending the lawfulness of the e-toll decision on constitutional grounds, but we have also uncovered failures when it comes to billing errors and processes in the scheme," he said.
- BusinessLIVE