Toll goes up on 24 highways

April 2, 2010

New Delhi: The road transport and highways ministry has increased toll rates on 24 stretches of public-funded highways from Wednesday.

“As per the rules published in 2008, fee is to be revised every year
effective from April 1. At present, the National Highways Authority of
India (NHAI) is collecting user fee on 24 sections as per the provisions of the new rules,” said the notification.

The revised toll rates will be derived by adding sum of 3% and 40% of the wholesale price index to the existing rates.

Out of a total of 145 toll plazas in the country, 98 are public and the balance are managed by contractors who have developed the stretch on a build operate and transfer (BoT) basis. Public roads are essentially those in which funding is done by the government either on BoT (annuity) mode or as a normal contract. In both the cases, the government bears the traffic risks and is entitled to toll revenues.

Of the 98 plazas funded by the government, only 24 are covered by the 2008 toll rules. On the balance public funded highways, there will be no hike as they are governed by the toll rules of 1997, which stipulates a revision every five years.

Meanwhile, the ministry has been deferring the proposed amendment in the National Highways Fee (Determination and Collection of Rates) Rules, 2008. The empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on highways’ last meeting earlier this month was inconclusive on the amendment. The EGoM is headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee. Union transport minister Kamal Nath and Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia are the other two members.

In the revised toll policy, the ministry plans to reintroduce the system of monthly passes for commercial vehicles. The idea of monthly passes was first mooted in the government’s toll policy in 1997. However, the provision was removed in the policy announced during ex-transport minister T R Baalu’s regime in December 2008.

Transporters defer strike
The All India Motor Transport Congress, an umbrella organisation of transporters in the country, has decided to defer the nationwide strike called from April 5. Transport minister Kamal Nath intervened in the matter on Tuesday and persuaded them to call off the strike. However, the strike will take place in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Pondicherry due to local issues, AIMTC president G R Shanmugappa said. The ministry has promised implementation of composite national permit regime by May this year. For abolition of anti-dumping duty on import of radial tyre, the ministry will sensitise the commerce ministry.

Source:dnaindia.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Uncategorized

NHAI nod to toll hike for Gurgaon e-way

April 1, 2010

NEW DELHI: From Thursday, commuters using the 27.7 km Delhi-Gurgaon expressway will have to pay Rs 4 more for each trip. The user charge for crossing the 32-lane toll plaza on the Delhi-Gurgaon border will increase by Rs 2, and there will be a similar hike for users crossing the Kherki Dhaula toll plaza. The hike will be steeper for heavy vehicles.

The expressway has three toll plazas and the two major plazas — the 32-lane plaza and the Kherki Dhaula plaza — process around 1.9 lakh vehicles a day.

The revised toll rate, which has been finalized by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), will be notified on Wednesday, said senior officials. On Tuesday, the authority notified the revision of toll rates for 23 four-laned national highway (NH) stretches owned by the government. Sources said that under ideal conditions, revised toll rates should be notified at least a week before they come into effect so that users have prior knowledge of the increase.

In the case of the four-laned NHs, the revised toll fee for 2010-11 has been fixed at 76 paise per km, whereas a commuter using the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway ends up paying Rs 1.6 per km (Rs 45 for a total of 27.7 km). Car users will pay Rs 20 at the 32-lane plaza and Rs 25 at the Kherki Dhaula plaza. Similarly, at the IGI plaza the toll will go up from the current Rs 12 to Rs 13 per trip.

NHAI sources said the toll rate for the two categories of roads is different. ‘‘The expressway is a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT-toll) project and its base toll charge has been fixed on the crossing of every toll plaza, not on a per km basis as is the case with other stretches. People pay more for better facilities and driving comfort,’’ an official said. He added the base toll charge was fixed to make the project financially viable.

Commuters who use the expressway daily, however, disagreed with NHAI’s claim that users pay more for better facilities.

‘‘We pay more for the expressway’s comfort but one can find two and three-wheelers crowding the main carriageway, increasing the risk of accidents. Why can’t the NHAI and the developer fix the problem?’’ asked General Satbir Singh, who often travels to Gurgaon.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Uncategorized

From April 1, pay more for driving on toll roads

April 1, 2010

NEW DELHI: High inflation rate is set to make your travel expensive on tolled highways from April 1. As per revised toll notifications issued by NHAI for about two dozen sections of national highways, the increase in toll rate per km for the year 2010-11 is approximately double than the average increase in the past two years.

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which revised toll rates for 23 NH stretches across the country on Tuesday, fixed the per km user fee for cars at 76 paise, five paise more than that last year.

Interestingly, a comparison of the increase in toll fee shows that between 2007-08 and 2009-10 the user charge went up from 65 paise to 71 paise.

“But this year the revised toll fee is higher due to steep increase in the wholesale price index (WPI). The WPI impacted an increase of toll by 7%, which is significant,” said an NHAI official.

Moreover, the user charge could pinch more for commuters using long distance tolled roads. NHAI sources said that the final toll amount is rounded off close to Rs 5 denominations. “For example, if one covers 50 km of toll road, now he has to pay Rs 40 whereas earlier the user fee for the similar stretch was only Rs 35,” said an NHAI official.

He added that user fee of major chunk of BOT-toll highways will be revised by July-end. “If the present trend of inflation continues, the hike in user fee will be higher. Many of these stretches are longer than the tolled state funded highways,” said another official.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Uncategorized

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