Motorists use fake permits to avoid tolls

Some private vehicles in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province, have used fake permits from flood control authorities to avoid paying highway tolls, local media reported on Wednesday.

Since the city's flood season arrived in July, a toll station at the highway linking Wuhan's Hankou and Huangpo districts has recorded more than 2,400 instances of private vehicles trying to evade the tolls by using fake permits from local flood control and drought relief headquarters, the Wuhan Evening News reported.

The toll station was unaware of the situation until it received reports from local residents. Video footage later showed more than 100 vehicles using the permits and driving past the toll station on a daily basis, which is "very unusual", according to Huang Zhigang, head of the toll station.

The toll station later obtained a list of vehicles from the authorities in order to identify the status of each vehicle using the permit. When motorists learned that their permits would be double-checked, many offered to pay the toll.

Huang told the Wuhan Evening News that the toll station is unable to do anything about the situation because it has no right to give additional penalties to vehicle owners. It can only require them to pay the toll fees that are due.