Economy 2 April 2024, 9:55am

Hungarian state makes a pretty penny on e-vignettes

Portfolio

Hungary's e-vignette receipts have risen considerably by mid-March 2024, largely due to prices rising by the same rate as the consumer price index in August last year, or 16.4%. 1 April is an important date in two respects: the new one-day sticker has become available and buses and lorries over 3.5 tonnes are now paying for the use of motorway per kilometre.

In the first cc. 2.5 months of the year (up to 11 March), the state collected a net HUF 45.4 billion from e-vignettes, i.e. time-based tolls for cars, minibuses - and even large buses. That's a 22.8% increase compared to the same period in 2023, largely due to a 16.4% price hike, according to data from the National Toll Payment Service Zrt. provided to Portfolio.

Most of the annual national and county stickers are sold at the beginning of the year, and are mostly bought by domestic motorists. In the first 70 days, 378,260 annual vignettes valid for the whole country were sold in the D1, or passenger car, category, an increase of 9.1% on an annual basis.

In category D2 (passenger cars with more than 7 seats and lorries of less than 3.5 tonnes), 139,171 vignettes were sold, a decrease of 1.6%. In the latter case, the lower volume still resulted in a 14.6% increase in revenue due to the price increase.

Overall, 5.9% more annual e-vignettes were sold and revenue increased by 21.4%.

What about buses?
From 1 April 2024, buses with a maximum authorised total mass of over 3.5 tonnes have to pay tolls for road use based on a new, specific regulation in the distance-based toll system. For buses subject to toll with a maximum mass of over 3.5 tonnes, buses with a maximum authorised total mass of 5 tonnes or less belong to vehicle category M2, while buses with a maximum authorised total mass of more than 5 tonnes belong to vehicle category M3. As a consequence of the change in the regulation, no country and county passes were available for buses this year, while weekly and monthly passes were still sold for them. This is reflected in the statistics, as the sale of monthly e-vignettes more than tripled by mid-March, i.e. business that previously bought annual e-vignettes resorted to the shorter-term solution.

Regional e-vignettes

County stickers were also popular. In the D1 category, the number of units sold increased by 9.8% and net revenue by 27.9%. In D2, 19.3% more e-vignettes were sold, representing a 38.9% increase in revenue compared to a year earlier.

A total of HUF 10.6 billion was collected from the county's stickers, 28% more than in the same period in 2023.

Monthly vignettes

Monthly vignette sales for buses have increased by more than 200%, but this is only due to the halt in sales of annual vignettes. Sales in the D1 category fell by 8%, but revenue still rose by 7.1%. This represents 145,700 e-vignettes. A significantly lower number, 35,000, were purchased for cars in the D2 category, but the volume was 5.6% higher than a year earlier.

Overall, despite an increase in the number of vignettes sold for buses, 1.3% fewer of monthly e-vignettes were sold, but revenue increased by 22.7%, which includes the fact that vignettes for buses are more expensive.

Weekly e-vignettes

Weekly / 10-day vignette sales were up 3.3% yr/yr, resulting in a revenue increase of 20.7%. The growth in revenue from sales for buses was also significant (26%), but far smaller than in the case of monthly e-vignettes, given that the weekly passes offer a worse value for money.

The volume of 10-day sticker sales went up only marginally by 2.2% yr/yr for D1 and by 11.3% for D2.

E-vignette receipts soaring

With revenue growth soaring, there is a good chance that the 2024 e-vignette receipt targets will be well surpassed, although two factors,

the elimination of buses from the system and
the introduction of the one-day sticker,

could make the figures worse.

The graph below shows how the target e-vignette revenue compares to the actual revenue collected. The 2023 figure (HUF 100.7 bn vs. HUF 92.8 bn target) is almost as high as the goal for this year, which is HUF 102 billion. It would appear that the government has once again significantly under-forecasted revenues, as this year it has already increased prices by the August 2023 inflation rate (16.4%), and new road sections were added to the toll network

One-day sticker was made available from 1 April at a cost of HUF 5,150, which is extremely poor value for money, yet it will still save motorists in transit who buy it instead of the weekly / 10-day pass that costs HUF 6,400 (saving 19.6%). From a budgetary point of view, this means that while last year a passing motorist could use motorways for HUF 5,500, now it is 6.3% cheaper (the reason for the change is an EU regulation that wants to soften the price system of national tolls that "penalises" foreign passers-by.)

According to thee relevant Eurovignette Directive, "the two-monthly rate shall not exceed 30% of the annual rate, the monthly rate shall not exceed 19% of the annual rate, the 10-day rate shall not exceed 12% of the annual rate, the weekly rate shall not exceed 11 % of the annual rate and the daily rate shall not exceed 9% of the annual rate."

The new type of toll sticker will be valid from 0 to 24 hours on the calendar day indicated by the purchaser. It can be bought in advance as well as on the day you want to use the toll roads. It is important to note, however, that if the date of purchase and the date of validity coincide, the daily sticker will entitle the holder to use the toll road from the exact date of purchase, not retroactively.