The Malaysian Association of Highway Concession Companies (PSKLM) confirmed some highways were due for toll hikes, but said the decision to raise the fares was not yet final.

"PSKLM would like to inform that a final decision has yet to be made.

"Based on concession agreements, there are a number of highways that qualify for toll hike this year.

"However, the negotiation between the concession companies and government is still going on," said PSKLM vice president Sazally Saidi in a statement today.

He was responding to an article by automotive portal Paultan.org titled: 'Toll hike at eight highways soon'.

The impending toll hikes, which was first reported by Sin Chew Daily, involves the North-South Expressway (Plus), Malaysia-Singapore Second Link, Shah Alam Expressway (Kesas), Butterworth Kulim Expressway (BKE), Seremban-Port Dickson Highway (SPDH), New North Klang Straits Bypass (NNKSB) and Damansara Puchong Expressway (LDP).

However, the toll hike for LDP was already enforced last year.

The Sin Chew Daily report quoted Works Minister Fadilah Yusof as saying that the toll hikes for these highways were due on Jan 1 this year, and the government must pay RM539 million in compensation if it did not allow them to raise the fares.

Last October, toll hikes were enforced in 18 highways after the government chose not to further compensate the concessionaires.

Fadilah said between 2008 and 2014, the government was forced to pay RM2.2 billion in compensation for not allowing the concessionaires to increase their toll rates.

He warned that the country's long-term debt would be affected if the government kept paying compensations to the concessionaire.