Wyndham residents and others on the metropolitan fringes could find it difficult to get a tow truck if they find themselves stranded on a country road.
A draft report by the Essential Services Commission on the tow-truck industry has recommended that fees should be fixed in regional centres, leading to fears small business operators will close down.
The state government has imposed set fees for towing in metropolitan Melbourne, but the market is unregulated in Wyndham, major regional centres, including Geelong, and country areas.
The ESC report found that tow-truck operators charge up to three times more to attend jobs in regional and unregulated areas of the state.
“Drivers involved in an accident are in a poor position to negotiate a reasonable towing fee,” the draft report states. “We are not convinced that the fees charged by some operators in the self-management and unregulated areas are explained by higher costs.”
But the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce believes Wyndham drivers and those in regional areas could be left stranded under the proposed towing changes.
“In regional areas, a towing business may be called to travel 10 or 150 kilometres at any time of the day or night,” chamber spokesman David Dowsey said. “There’s no way they can run their business under fixed fees.”
