Controversial truck fee postponed

truckTruck.Photo: pixabay.com

The zoning law which will give many truck owners an extra bill of NOK 600 per day to drive into Oslo has been postponed until next winter, reported NRK news.

 

The district councillor indicated that the city council has long been working to make Oslo a so-called ‘low-emission zone’, where polluting lorries have to pay a fee in advance to drive within the city limits.

The plan has been to introduce this zone for trucks that do not have the most modern cleaning technology, ‘Euro 6’. Now the city council announced that its implementation will be postponed until next winter.

One of the reasons are the challenges related to enforcement, and to put in place technical solutions together with the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.

But the city council also said they have listened to industry.

‘We have received some consultative input, especially from business, saying that they need a little more time before they can manage the change. Many businesses have invested in cars that are just a little below the standards required by Euro 6, and so they need some extra time.

We choose to listen to them, said the City Council leader for Environment and Transport, Lan Marie Nguyen Berg of the Miljøpartiet De
Grønne Party (Green – MDG).

Regional Director, Nina Solli of NHO Oslo and Akershus, said that the organisation is very pleased that their input had been heard.

‘You can’t introduce such a large fee at such short notice.
Business is dependent on predictable framework conditions. We want to contribute to the green shift, but we need time to change,’ she said.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today