The government said the raise took into consideration the environmental aspect so that lorries which emit more pollutants pay more.

"Fact is that the toll has not changed since 2013, so the pricing policy has had to be adapted to changes in the structure of the fleet of trucks which despite increased traffic reduce DARS's revenue."

The toll, inclusive of VAT, for first motorway class (two- to three-axle vehicles or trailers) is being decreased by 5% (from EUR 0.257499 to EUR 0.243929 per tollable kilometre).

Meanwhile, the toll for second class (more than three axles) is being raised by 18% (from EUR 0.430815 to EUR 0.507374).

But cleaner lorries, those in the EURO 4 emission class or above, will be able to benefit from discounts; 20% for EURO 4, 30% for EURO 5 and 40% for EURO 6.

DARS generated EUR 188m or half of its overall revenue last year from heavy goods traffic. In the first ten months of the year, the motorway company collected EUR 160.4m in tolls from lorries.