There will be no toll hikes next year, Works Minister Fadillah Yusof said today, adding that the government must pay RM59.97 million in compensation to highway concessionaires because of this.

He said the cabinet had on Oct 12 decided to postpone the restructuring for toll rates in 2016 and 2017.

"In other words, there is no toll hike this year and next year," Fadillah told the House when wrapping up his part of the Budget 2017 debate.

He explained that only four tolls were eligible for rate hikes next year, namely the Johor Bahru Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL), Kajang–Seremban Highway (Lekas), Senai–Desaru Expressway (SDE) and the Guthrie Corridor Expressway (GCE).

Earlier, the minister was reported by Bernama as refuting DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng's allegations that the North-South Highway was operated by government cronies.

Fadillah said the government had privatised Plus Highways Berhad in 2011 to rationalise the overall toll structure of all highway concessions in the Plus Group and prevent unnecessary toll hikes.

However, he said not one share of the concessionaire was owned by private "cronies" as Lim claimed.

Fifty-one percent was owned by the government and 49 percent owned by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

He added EPF's ownership of Plus Highways gave contributors a stable return every year from a mature cash-generating asset.

Fadillah also said that toll charges for the North-South Expressway had not been increased for the past 11 years.

"In fact, with the introduction of certain discounts and rebates in recent years, actual toll rates for the North-South Expressway have also gone down," he said.