France will roll out a new system of road tolls to replace plans for nationwide charges on heavy vehicles that were abandoned earlier this year amid widespread protests, the government said on Sunday, reports Reuters.
The new scheme will still impose charges on trucks, but only on routes with the heaviest freight traffic, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said.
"It's the user pays principle," he told BFM television.
The measures, which exempt agricultural vehicles, will generate about 550 million euros ($747 million) a year, government officials said.
That amounts to about half of the projected revenue from the broader so-called ecotax on heavy freight vehicles, which was to have taken effect on January 1.
The government, which is struggling to rein in the public deficit, was forced to halt that scheme after demonstrators took to the streets and drivers blocked roads across the country, saying it would hit business.
Read more of this report from Reuters.