Is there an annual fee for ETC if it hasn't been used for a year?
3 Answers
ETC will incur fees even if not used. A certain number of transactions are required to waive the annual fee. For example, banks may charge a monthly service fee of 3 yuan for the ETC card, plus an additional 2 yuan monthly SMS service fee. More information about ETC is as follows: 1. ETC stands for Electronic Toll Collection, which is an automatic toll collection system for highways or bridges. It uses dedicated short-range communication between the onboard electronic tag installed on the vehicle's windshield and the microwave antenna in the ETC lane at the toll station. By leveraging computer networking technology and bank system backend settlement processing, it enables vehicles to pay highway or bridge tolls without stopping. 2. At toll stations, vehicles without ETC need to stop at manual windows to collect cards and pay, requiring deceleration and stopping, which can lead to long wait times during peak hours and traffic congestion. Vehicles equipped with ETC can pass through dedicated ETC lanes by slowing down without stopping. The toll system reads the vehicle information from the ETC device, analyzes the vehicle's travel data, forms a deduction transaction, and uploads it to the bank in real-time. The bank processes the transaction and returns the data to the processing center in real-time. Meanwhile, the vehicle owner receives the corresponding deduction information and can print invoices independently. This allows vehicles to pass through toll booths quickly and conveniently while also avoiding incorrect charges.
As an experienced driver who has been using ETC for five or six years, I found that after binding it to a bank card, account maintenance fees are often unavoidable, even if you don’t use the highway all year. Last year, my car was under maintenance for a long time and I barely used it, yet the bank statement still showed an ETC annual fee. The customer service explained that the system automatically charges this fee to maintain the service, similar to a credit card annual fee. If you don’t meet certain spending requirements after activation—such as using the highway a certain number of times within a year—you may be charged a small fee of a few dozen yuan. It’s recommended to check your bill on the official ETC app and set an annual reminder to avoid forgetting. If you really don’t need it, just cancel the account and reapply for a new one—it might even be free. Saving money is always good; while ETC is convenient, don’t keep it if it doesn’t save you money.
Oh my, both my friend and I are new to driving, and we were discussing this last month. My ETC card was idle for a whole year last year, and they actually charged an annual fee—what a rip-off. The bank said it was stated in the account opening agreement that there are conditional fees, and not using the highway might trigger charges. However, some partner banks offer ETC cards with no annual fee, like those linked to a spending credit card, and you can get discounts by using the highway more after activation. My lesson is: if you're not using it, close the account early—don't delay. Call the ETC customer service to apply for cancellation or freezing, and just throw away the device—it's free anyway, no need to treat it like a treasure. Remember, small oversights can cost you money, so timely action is the key to saving.
