Tolls for the Namsan tunnels in downtown Seoul will be fully exempted for a month from Monday.

The city of Seoul on Monday lifted the daytime tolls at Namsan tunnels One and Three for both southbound and northbound traffic following the partial exemption of the tolls applied to vehicles traveling south since the middle of last month.

The exemption is part of the city’s plan to readjust the policy for the two-thousand won fee, which has remained unchanged since its introduction, amid the observation that it hardly discourages drivers from using the tunnels.

The weekday daytime toll was introduced in 1996 to ease severe traffic congestion in and around the tunnels from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and had been applied to passenger cars carrying fewer than three people.

The exemption rate currently stands at around 60 percent as buses, trucks and electric vehicles are also free from having to pay the tolls. 

The city plans to monitor the change in traffic volume as a result of the exemption and devise a new toll policy. Collection of the toll will resume from May 17.