Maharashtra gives toll relief to light vehicles
Date
4/12/2015 4:39:26 AM
(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Announcing the decision in the state assembly on Friday Devendra Fadnavis the chief minister said 12 toll booths would be shut from June 1 and motorists would also not be charged at 53 other toll collection centres.
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Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Friday announced the closure of a dozen toll booths besides exempting motorists from paying the tax at 53 toll booths across the state except the five entry/exit points in Mumbai and along the Pune expressway.
The BJP-led government which had promised a toll-free Maharashtra in the run-up to state assembly elections last year decided to scrap a dozen toll booths and exempt motorists from paying toll at 53 booths.
But motorists in Mumbai and Pune — who contribute the maximum to the toll revenues of the government — will continue paying the tax for a few more weeks until a government committee decides on the issue.
Announcing the decision in the state assembly on Friday Devendra Fadnavis the chief minister said 12 toll booths would be shut from June 1 and motorists would also not be charged at 53 other toll collection centres. The government which earns about Rs300 billion in revenues from the 168 toll booths in the state — the funds are meant for construction of new highways and maintenance of the existing ones — will compensate the toll contractors the public works department and the Maharashtra Road Development Corporation for the loss in revenue.
Private vehicles including cars and four-wheel drives (two-wheelers are exempt from paying toll) account for 90 per cent of the toll revenues. However because of inefficiency road users have to spend a lot of time at the centres.
About two years ago Raj Thackeary the chief of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena had launched a violent agitation against the collection of toll. He had charged the previous United Progressive Alliance government of signing deals with favoured contractors and collecting toll even after the total cost of construction of highways had been recovered.
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