[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by allajunaki

So let me get this straight.
We have Road Tax for improvement of Roads (Which they take from you for every car and bike you buy). They then collect tolls because the money they get from Road tax is not enough. Now they are integrating the Toll cost into the cost of car and fuel. What is to prevent them from creating another Toll charge point because the Toll tax wasn't enough?

Besides what would be the incentive for the Toll collectors (Contractors)? I can see this work only if Government pays the Toll for every car that passes by (through the pool collected from fuel and car). But then Govt will very soon run out of funds, and they will jack up the cess on the Fuel, burdening the poor Scooty guy and M80 who will never see a toll road. And I don't see why would commercial vehicles agree to double toll? Payment via Fuel Cess + Payment at the booth.
The whole thing feels ill conceived and hasty approach in which the only gainer would be the cracks in our Indian treasury, and everyone else a Loser.

Welcome to India . I am ready to pay as long as the below five things are addressed.

• Show a model that this extra money will indeed go to better roads.
• Show a model that there will be a dedicated lane for private cars at toll booth.
• Charge a flat rate on each type of vehicle (LMV / Light truck etc) and not charge a % of the ex-showroom price
• Leverage Auto-Insurance industry to levy an Extra 1000/- for toll-tax per insurance renewed to pass the burden to existing vehicles too.
• Answer to the ministry to why a flat rate cannot be charged on all categories of vehicles and totally do away with toll booths.

Toll companies will get their share no matter what. They have tie-ups with influential people. They will get back 125% of thier investement + interest and still would show a loss. Dont worry about how toll companies would make money. It is a well known fact that tenders go only to people with influence. You and me cannot get a straight-forward transparent tender.

[pradeepkg]

Originally Posted by pvgeorge

I live in Kerala and there is no toll road ( or any road worth making it a toll road) in the 100 Kms vicinity.
be it a 2% charge on new vehicle/ additional burden on fuel.. why should I be paying as I rarely use it ( once in probably 2-3 Yrs).

The present setup will turn out to be economical for me... the more one uses toll roads, the more he/ she will be charged

George V

I live in Thrissur and everyday travel to Cochin by car and return. I need to pay a toll of 95 rupees for to and fro trip and these places are in Kerala itself.

[fusionbang]

Good news for all the highway enthusiasts. Toll fee to be collected from only transportation vehicles. Cars and jeeps are exempted all over India. On a total there are 374 tolls in India. This news is from transport ministry, Govt of India.

They have proposed a new rule saying "No toll fee to be collected from vehicles except Commercial Vehicles" and it should be commenced in a couple of months. I think it a big relief to all highway enthusiasts who used to spend 25% of their journey time in toll booths and a good move by Govt of India.

Courtesy: Deccan Herald
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...ed-public.html

People may be relieved from paying toll on national highways as the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways proposes to collect user charges only from commercial vehicles.

“The ministry is working on the suggestion of collecting toll only from commercial vehicles by sparing rest of vehicles,” an official in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways told Deccan Herald.

With the increasing instances of protests from public over toll collection on national highways in different parts of the country, the Centre is working on a new toll policy by bringing radical changes in the existing National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules formulated in 2008. The new policy is expected to be ready in a couple of months.

Now, all vehicles, except two and three wheelers, emergency service vehicles and VIPs, have to pay toll on highways. Commercial vehicles include vehicles hired for rent like taxis, buses as well as goods transporting vehicles like trucks and tempos.

Though the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) officials apprehend that sparing non-commercial vehicles from paying toll charges will erode its revenue, the Highway Ministry dismissed the fear saying that with 80 per cent of the toll collection coming from commercial vehicles, it would not harm the revenue of the NHAI.

However, the new proposal will not be applicable to existing highways built under the Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) policy where the NHAI already signed an MoU with private developers. It will be applicable only for new BOOT highways, said the official.

Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari recently announced the plan to stop collection of toll charges once the cost of the project is recovered. However, a section of officials in the ministry opposed the proposal, saying this will lead to fiscal burden on the cash-strapped NHAI. The NHAI collected Rs 11,387 crore as toll in fiscal 2013-14. Of this, Rs 3,398 crore was collected on public or government-funded roads.

There are 374 toll plazas on national highways now of which about 164 are private-funded, 138 are public-funded and 72 are public-funded bridges.

However, the ministry promised the NHAI that its concerns will be addressed and if there arises any shortfall in its revenue, the ministry will sanction additional funds.

[Tushar]

The bane of toll plazas may be partially relieved if a plan by the government goes through. Nitin Gadkari, minister of road transport and highways, reportedly plans to identify projects where toll collection has become unviable or where the cost has been recovered. Gadkari said 74 such public funded tolls have been identified and 61 of them have already been shut down.

Link to Team-BHP news article

[arnabchak]

Originally Posted by fusionbang

Good news for all the highway enthusiasts. Toll fee to be collected from only transportation vehicles. Cars and jeeps are exempted all over India. On a total there are 374 tolls in India. This news is from transport ministry, Govt of India.

They have proposed a new rule saying "No toll fee to be collected from vehicles except Commercial Vehicles" and it should be commenced in a couple of months. I think it a big relief to all highway enthusiasts who used to spend 25% of their journey time in toll booths and a good move by Govt of India.

Courtesy: Deccan Herald
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...ed-public.html

By when can we expect this implementation to happen?

The news came out in OCt 14 and we are in Feb 15.
It's already 5 months but no timeline on implementation yet!!

[fusionbang]

Originally Posted by arnabchak

By when can we expect this implementation to happen?

The news came out in OCt 14 and we are in Feb 15.
It's already 5 months but no timeline on implementation yet!!

Yes the news came out in October 2014, but as you know in our country it is easy to say we will do this, we will do that but EOD we need to believe it only when it is implemented. Initially even I was waiting it will be implemented from Jan 1st, 2015 but nothing till date I have stopped thinking about these false statements nowadays.

So as per latest news, they have announced shutting down toll booths but we never know when it will be put in action.

[saket77]

Arnab, there was also a news of abolishing RTOs all over the country sometime in the August, 2014. Did not see or hear any such development which points to that direction.

I don't think either of the two is possible.

Regards,
Saket

[arnabchak]

Originally Posted by saket77

Arnab, there was also a news of abolishing RTOs all over the country sometime in the August, 2014. Did not see or hear any such development which points to that direction.

I don't think either of the two is possible.

Regards,
Saket

Hi saket,

Bro, long time!!
How have you been?

I was optimistic that the toll things goes through. too much highway runs and after paying the income tax through the nose last two months, any tax lax/rebate is more than welcome

[Dodge_Viper]

"However, the new proposal will not be applicable to existing highways built under the Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) policy where the NHAI already signed an MoU with private developers."

This one is tricky. Which of them fall under this category? What about the 5 so-called Mumbai Entry Point tolls? Where a person residing in Mumbai is paying toll to enter his own city?

[Traveller Nayak]

Originally Posted by Dodge_Viper

"However, the new proposal will not be applicable to existing highways built under the Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) policy where the NHAI already signed an MoU with private developers."

This one is tricky. Which of them fall under this category? What about the 5 so-called Mumbai Entry Point tolls? Where a person residing in Mumbai is paying toll to enter his own city?

Well said. This is indeed a tricky one.

We have the NH and SH. Both have tolls. Central Govt will have a say over the NH and not the SH. A state govt may not want to give up revenue.

Same issue as rolling out GST all over India. Then different parties ruling different states also adds to complication.

I agree the BOOT and other similar arrangements will either need to be excluded or operator adequately compensated. Gurgaon-Delhi toll is a good example of how much time it can take.

My take: government will first start with those where the operator can be seen to have recovered its investment and made money. And, then go to others.

I also hope that these are not kneejerk reactions and are well thought after.

These should not translate to gradual deterioration of the roads or delay in emergency assistance.

[Swapnil4585]

Construction and maintenance of highways is a concession contract with a private legal entity, entered into by the owner of the land (NHAI). The concessionaire has to construct and maintain the road and charge a fee (toll) from the users. This is the crux of a concession agreement.
While construction is a one time activity, maintenance is essentially a recurring job, and hence collecting toll for maintaining a road is perfectly understood. The question is, what is the basis of classification of a viable toll plaza and a nonviable toll plaza? How will the concessionaire be able to recover maintenance cost if toll is removed? What if the Government does not reimburse the tax so collected instead of toll, to the concessionaire?

In today's local Marathi newspaper, I read the news that 'e-tolls' are being planned. How many more things is Mr Gadkari planning?

Originally Posted by Dodge_Viper

This one is tricky. Which of them fall under this category? What about the 5 so-called Mumbai Entry Point tolls? Where a person residing in Mumbai is paying toll to enter his own city?

Right sir. I believe, BOT is the norm nowadays.

[scopriobharath]

Two things -

1) Removing toll as such is a blunder. They should NOT be doing that. They should charge a "minimum" amount which covers costs of maintenance, policing, patrol, salaries of the tolloperator etc. If Toll stops, no one will maintain the roads. Policing would become sparse too (it is already sparse).

2) Why the 2% surcharge - it should be a fixed amount like say 10,000/- for every LMV. Today, a 7 series, an Audi A8, a limo and a nano pay the same toll amount. With this 2% a nano would be spending 6000/- whereas a 1.2 crore Audi A8 / 7 series would be paying 2,40,000 . Totally unbiased policy. Note: I drive a santro and not an exotic.

[gostel]

Toll booths have become an irritant. For one, they suck excess money out of us; and the other, they introduce long delays in our journey. The second problem can be solved by using smart technology so that cars can speedily go through the toll booths without having to physically pay toll. I hear RFID is a technology that enables cars to quickly go through the toll booths.

[arnabchak]

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

Two things -

1) Removing toll as such is a blunder. They should NOT be doing that. They should charge a "minimum" amount which covers costs of maintenance, policing, patrol, salaries of the tolloperator etc. If Toll stops, no one will maintain the roads. Policing would become sparse too (it is already sparse).

2) Why the 2% surcharge - it should be a fixed amount like say 10,000/- for every LMV. Today, a 7 series, an Audi A8, a limo and a nano pay the same toll amount. With this 2% a nano would be spending 6000/- whereas a 1.2 crore Audi A8 / 7 series would be paying 2,40,000 . Totally unbiased policy. Note: I drive a santro and not an exotic.

Dear Scorpio

I have another opinion.

"Removing toll as such is a blunder. They should NOT be doing that. They should charge a "minimum" amount which covers costs of maintenance, policing, patrol, salaries of the tolloperator etc. If Toll stops, no one will maintain the roads. Policing would become sparse too (it is already sparse)"

The idea is not to remove toll completely. It is to eliminate the toll being collected from private cars.
I completely support the move.

Private vehicles only contribute 10-12% of the total toll collection.Would help highway stars like me to enjoy driving and saving a bit

2) I agree. Instead of a percentage, would be better to do it slab wise:

Slab 1 applicable for Entry Level @ Rs. 5K
Slab 2- B Segment @ Rs. 8K
and so on and so forth.

[stanjohn123]

I really don't think this bill is going to pass so easily. Toll booth guys are not going to let go of this easy earning.

See what they did to an anti toll tax campaigner and his wife

http://www.ndtv.com/kolkata-news/vet...-lateststories