Is the toll charged for returning to the disaster area？ This can be done free of charge.

Cctv news(Reporter Wang Jiazhu): Recently, heavy rains occurred in Henan and other places in China. Many social rescue forces in Shaanxi brought their own materials to help them thousands of miles, but some people reported that they had returned from their trip. When they got off the expressway, they encountered such a problem: they had to be charged high-speed tolls.

This practice of local expressway makes these caring people feel very unpopular, but in fact, as long as declare in advance passes the examination, it can achieve free passage.

Shu Zhanyang is a member of the rescue team of Shaanxi Shuguang Emergency Rescue Association, and 59 members rushed to Henan in batches to participate in Xinxiang rescue. On July 26th, they returned to Shaanxi smoothly, but when they got off the expressway at Tongguan Port Toll Station, two cars in the same company were charged about 300 yuan Expressway toll. Shu Zhanyang said that the Henan side issued a certificate for them to participate in the rescue, but the staff of the port toll station did not recognize it.

There are also caring people who have the same experience, and the net name "put his family". This caring person, who did not want to reveal his real name, purchased 800 pieces of mineral water and 200 boxes of instant noodles and sent them to the affected rural areas in Fengquan District, Xinxiang City, Henan Province. He rushed back to Xi ‘an in an emergency within 24 hours. At the Weiyang toll station in Xi ‘an, the staff charged a high-speed toll because they did not receive the documents from their superiors. But then the toll booth contacted him and said that he could refund the fee.

Material donation certificate issued by Shimen Town People’s Government of Luonan County to Mr. Meng (Photo courtesy of Mr. Meng)

At the same time of the disaster in Henan, there was a heavy rain in Luonan County, Shangluo City, Shaanxi Province. Mr. Meng, a caring person in zhouzhi county, Xi ‘an, purchased 50 bags of rice, 50 bags of noodles, 40 barrels of edible oil and 120 pieces of mineral water and sent them to Luonan County. Before returning, the local government of Luonan County issued a certificate of material donation to Mr. Meng, but after returning, Wugong Toll Station charged a high-speed toll of 228 yuan for two cars on the grounds that it did not receive the notice from the superior documents. Mr. Meng said that he could not afford the money, or he felt that he was not "beautiful".

On the short video platform, the behavior of Shaanxi high-speed toll station caused a heated discussion, which was considered not humanized enough. Then, what kind of charging policy should be implemented for social vehicles participating in the rescue?

On July 27th, the reporter contacted the Shaanxi Expressway 12122 service hotline by telephone. The staff said that the rescue vehicle should fill in the application at the entrance of "Social Rescue Service" on the website of the Emergency Management Department, and it can be released free of charge after passing the examination. For those who have already paid the fee, they can also apply for a refund. "If you can’t operate, you can let the toll booth staff give guidance."

In fact, in 2019, the Ministry of Transport and the Emergency Management Department jointly issued the "Notice on Doing a Good Job in Ensuring the Traffic Service of Social Power Vehicles across Provinces for Emergency Relief" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice").

The Notice requires that social forces registered in accordance with the law to participate in emergency rescue and disaster relief activities should file basic information such as teams and equipment in the online declaration system for social forces participating in emergency rescue and disaster relief of the emergency management department (hereinafter referred to as the declaration system, which is logged in from the homepage of the government website of the emergency management department) in advance, and fill in information such as vehicle information, driving route, transit time, equipment and materials types in the declaration system. After the audit, the emergency management department will inform the relevant provincial emergency management departments of relevant information. The provincial emergency management department shall, after reporting to the provincial people’s government for approval, notify the provincial transportation authorities to organize toll stations along the line to waive vehicle tolls.

Screenshot of the entrance of the emergency management department website declaration system

Login page of "Emergency Resource Management Public Service Platform"

The reporter logged into the website of the Emergency Management Department and found that there is "social rescue service" in the navigation bar of the website. After clicking on the secondary page, there is an icon of "social emergency force management system" on the right, and there are two entrances of "management department" and "social force". Click on "social force" to enter, and after registration, you can enter the "public service platform for emergency resource management" to further complete the filing and declaration of relevant information.

After the declaration is completed, not only will the toll stations along the line be exempted from vehicle tolls, but in accordance with the requirements of the Notice, the service area will do a good job in ensuring highway traffic services such as giving priority to refueling, adding water, catering, accommodation and vehicle maintenance.