Officials respond to ambulance fee row

Ambulances won’t be asked to pay toll fees when using expressways in Shanghai, the city's transport commission said on Thursday.

The announcement came after a report that an ambulance carrying injured people from a traffic accident was stopped at the Nanqiao Toll Station on the A4 Expressway at 5pm on Wednesday and asked to pay the fee.

In Shanghai, the government pays for all ambulances to use expressways for free, but since January 1 this year, ambulances need electronic toll collection (ETC) devices to be able to continue to do that, the commission said.

The ambulance that was stopped did not have an ETC device.

The ETC system is being introduced nationwide, with only a few toll fee collection gates left for drivers who have not yet had devices installed. The eventual goal is to remove all manual booths in the future. Asked why ambulances without a device couldn't go through manual toll gates free, the commission said all government-sponsored toll-free vehicles had to have ETC devices to enjoy the benefit under the new regulation.

The commission said it will help the entire first-aid fleet to install ETC devices as soon as possible.