Taiwan has amended its Highway Act to create a clearer legal basis for charging electric vehicles (EVs) for road use and maintenance as the country prepares for declining fuel-linked revenues amid accelerating electrification.
An Office of the President order dated 19 December 2025, published in the Executive Yuan Gazette on 22 December 2025, confirms amendments to multiple articles of the Highway Act including provisions tied to the long-running “automobile fuel use fee” framework.
The revised Article 27 replaces the fuel-specific language with a broader road-use framing, stating that highway authorities may levy a “highway usage, maintenance and safety management fee” to fund highway maintenance, construction and safety management.
The amendment also draws a clearer distinction between fuel and non-fuel vehicles, specifying that “the toll rate for non-fuel vehicles shall be determined by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) in consultation with the Ministry of Finance (MOF)”.
The move reflects a widening policy challenge facing transport authorities globally: how to sustain road maintenance funding as EV adoption reduces receipts from fuel-related fees and taxes.
In a submission to City Transport & Traffic Innovation Magazine, Shih-Ming You, counsellor at Taipei City Government, said the MOTC has historically allocated annual fuel charge revenues to local governments for road construction and maintenance but that the growing prevalence of EVs is now “impacting this revenue stream”.
The change builds on earlier public discussion in Taiwan around bringing EVs into the road-funding base while maintaining the government’s net zero ambitions.
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In May 2025, Taiwan’s Highway Bureau told local media that a proposed Highway Act amendment could mean EV owners would have to start paying road maintenance-related fees as early as 2030, with policymakers arguing it was necessary to avoid a funding shortfall as EV numbers rise.
Lawmakers quoted at the time framed the shift around fairness and the “user pays” principle, saying: “As EV use increases, owners should pay fees in accordance with the principle of user pays.”
Deputy minister of transportation and communications Chen Yen-po added that the Institute of Transportation was reviewing the rules underpinning the fee system: “The institute is expected to finish its review by next year and EV owners are likely to begin paying road maintenance fees by 2030.”
While the Highway Act amendment establishes the enabling legal framework, the practical impact for EV drivers will depend on the tariff design and the collection mechanism that MOTC and MOF settle on.
In his submission, You argued that any future EV charging approach should align more closely with road user charging principles, adding that Taiwan could move towards mileage-based charging “instead of based on per vehicle” to better reflect road use.
You also pointed to Taiwan’s existing electronic toll collection infrastructure as a potential foundation for future charging models, noting that Taiwan’s national freeway network uses gantries to support distance-based tolling and processes millions of transactions a day.
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