Five banks on Monday launched license plate top-up services through their mobile banking to users of the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway (PP-SHV Expressway) under the partnership agreements with the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT), said a release.According to MPWT, users of PP-SHV Expressway will be allowed to top up an amount of cash into their mobile top-up service through the prepaid license plate top-up transactions of either Acleda Bank, ABA Bank, Vattanac Bank, Chip Mong Bank or Wing Bank before they use the expressway. The top-up transaction can be operated like a mobile top-up for using the internet, making calls and sending text messages and users also can check their beginning and ending balance by scanning QR Code on the technical check certificate or permission certificate for people who use the PP-SHV Expressway with their 500cc or 27kW-power motorcycles. “For comfortable travelling with less complicatedness, waiting and congestion, users of the expressway who have plan to use the expressway are advised to make payments through topping up operated by a camera that automatically captures the plate number and the payment will be automatically made via the participating banks,” the release pointed out. The soft launch is for the gate on the right of Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville terminals of the PP-SHV Expressway, while users are required to have their vehicles registered and installed with plate number, technically checked with a valid certificate for automobiles and certificate of 500cc or 27kW or higher of power for motorcycles.Recently, spokesman of the MPWT Heang Sotheayuth met the representatives of the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) and 14 banks or financial institutions in Cambodia about the preparation of the payment for using the expressway through participating banks and financial institutions. “I hope that the meeting would bring value for the cooperation and expand the coverage of the financial services through providing payment of relevant fees to the public service consumers more effectively and transparently,” Sotheayuth said. The MPWT announced on Monday that users of the PP-SHV Expressway will be offered 20 percent discount on toll charges from November 1, 2022, until October 31, 2023. MPWT also announced that users of the PP-SHV Expressway will be required to pay 100 percent toll charges from November 1, 2023, after they get the preferential tolls—the fee users are required to pay after 20 percent discount—for the tolls ranging from $0.064 per kilometre per vehicle to $0.32 per kilometre per vehicle.The road using vehicles have been categorised into five types (A to E). Type A vehicles included motorcycles with cylinders capacity greater than or equal to 500cc, cars with up to 7 seats and trucks with less than 2 tons loading capacity. They are required to pay $0.064per kilometre per vehicle during the discount period, according to the announcement of the MPWT. The table of detailed tolls depends on the distance and type of vehicles in the actual situation. The tables are posted on the information board at the exit-entrance gate of the expressway, while users of the expressway are also required to have plate numbers, valid certificates of technical check and other obligations required by laws. For example, users who drive 187.05 kilometres on the expressway from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville need to pay $12 — the post-discount amount of 20 percent — for vehicles in type A. Trucks with over 20 tons capacity, including container carriers, are required to pay $0.32 per kilometre per vehicle after they get a discount. MPWT figures show that nearly 440,000 vehicle drivers used PP-SHV Expressway free of charge from October 1-31, 2022.