BERLIN, Dec 26 (Reuters) - The German Transport Ministry said on Friday it was postponing a decision on whether to cancel a contract with a consortium of firms developing a truck highway toll scheme by a month until the end of January.
A spokesman for the ministry told Reuters there has been movement in the talks with the consortium during the Christmas holiday period on compensation for lost revenues.
"There has been movement on the side of the consortium," the spokesman said. "That is the reason that a possible cancellation deadline is being pushed back until the end of January.
But he said the concessions from the Toll Collect consortium do not yet go far enough.
"That still has to be improved," he said.
The Toll Collect consortium is made up of Deutsche Telekom, DaimlerChrysler and France's Cofiroute.
The system, with ground-breaking satellite-based tracking technology, was originally due to start on August 31 but its roll-out has been delayed due to technical problems and was not expected to start before at least mid-2004.
Germany has billed the consortium 1.3 billion euros ($1.61 billion) in lost revenues and other fines, but the consortium partners say there are no grounds for paying damages.
Under the toll system, Germany aims to charge 12-tonne trucks 12.4 euro cents per kilometre across its highway network, the most heavily used in Europe.
The system is set to raise 2.8 billion euros ($3.5 billion) per year, with 2.1 billion of that flowing into state coffers.
Transport Minister Manfred Stolpe had previously said the contract with Toll Collect should be cancelled if no timetable and agreement on refunds for lost toll revenues is reached by the end of 2003.