BERLIN, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Germany's planned highway toll for trucks may be postponed once again beyond its current November start date because of delays over the approval of the operating system, the transport ministry said on Monday.
Asked whether the November 2 start date was fixed, a ministry spokesman said: "We will see when we know what the system can do."
Germany had planned to charge trucks of 12 tonnes or over 12.4 euro cents per kilometre from August 31, but Transport Minister Manfred Stolpe announced an initial delay last month due to problems with the satellite-based tracking equipment.
The transport ministry said on Monday that the toll operators had still not provided a report which was due in mid-August. Without the report, the operators would not be able to begin a planned test phase from August 31.
Toll Collect, the consortium led by DaimlerChrysler AG and Deutsche Telekom , said it would provide the required report by the middle of the week.
The transport ministry spokesman said he assumed the test phase would begin as planned on Sunday.
The truck toll is also threatened by the European commission which is concerned that it will give local firms an unfair advantage over foreign rivals. The Commission is investigating government plans to compensate German truckers for the extra costs of the new tolls.
Stolpe and European Commissioner for transport, Loyola de Palacio, are to meet in Brussels on Tuesday.
The German government is keen to introduce the tolls which are expected to yield 2.8 billion euros per year.