HARARE, Jul. 27 (NewsDay Live) – Zimbabwe has abolished the Road Access Fee, ending a 17-year levy that effectively required motorists to pay twice for using the country’s road network after the nationwide expansion of toll gates.
Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona said Statutory Instrument 113 of 2026, gazetted on July 24, gives legal effect to the removal of the fee, which had become redundant after the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) rolled out toll gates across the country’s highways.
The Road Access Fee was introduced in 2009, before Zimbabwe established a national tolling system. As ZINARA expanded its network of toll plazas, motorists entering the country were required to pay the Road Access Fee at border posts before paying additional toll charges as they travelled on the same roads.
“With the subsequent rollout of ZINARA toll gates across the national road network, the fee became duplicative, resulting in motorists being charged twice for the same service,” Mhona said in a statement.
The abolition forms part of a wider government programme launched after President Emmerson Mnangagwa directed ministries, departments and agencies to review taxes, licences, permits and regulatory charges with a view to eliminating unnecessary costs and improving the ease of doing business.
Cabinet subsequently approved a review of fees charged by the Central Vehicle Registry (CVR), Road Motor Transportation (RMT) and the Vehicle Inspectorate Department (VID), leading to the removal of overlapping regulatory charges.
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The latest measure builds on transport-sector reforms introduced earlier this year under Statutory Instruments 6 and 10 of 2026, which substantially reduced several vehicle registration and licensing fees.
The removal of the Road Access Fee is expected to lower the cost of cross-border travel and freight movement, benefiting commercial transporters, cross-border bus operators and private motorists entering Zimbabwe through ports of entry such as Beitbridge, Chirundu and Forbes.
Border crossing schedules reviewed by NewsDay Live show motorists previously paid a US$10 Road Access Fee in addition to other statutory charges, including carbon tax, third-party insurance and, where applicable, bridge tolls. The cumulative cost was particularly significant for transport operators making frequent cross-border trips.
Mhona said the ministry remained committed to creating “a modern, efficient and business-friendly transport regulatory framework” and urged motorists and transport operators to comply with the revised fee structure.
The reform is expected to improve Zimbabwe’s competitiveness by reducing transport costs, particularly along the strategic North-South Corridor, where freight operators have long complained that multiple road charges increase the cost of doing business.
The statutory instrument abolishes only the Road Access Fee. ZINARA toll fees charged at toll plazas across the country remain in force.