[saisree]

Originally Posted by AKSarkar1

This scenario reminds me of another very discussed topic on our forum, lemon cars vs Bill Payments. Even if your car is a lemon and even if you are fed up while the workshop guys work on it, you will yet still have to pay the EMIs/other financial liabilities associated with the car since you are legally confined to do so. I see the same story with tolls, the only difference is that this time the lemons are the roads and the EMIs are toll taxes.

Purely OT- but the above statement reminds me about of this ordeal and Govts are not ready to pass any benefits to the Aam Junta

@Mods, please feel free to delete this post.

[landcruiser123]

If the government was so proactive, India would be a utopian place like Shangri-La.

[monish_m]

Fully agree and this thought was running in my mind as well.

Last week between Nelamangala and Tumkur the highway is riddled with potholes and worse still loose gravel and stones. I got a stone hit and a cracked windscreen...just pathetic road conditions after paying toll, ironic!!!

[ankitsharma]

Originally Posted by Doonite

I'll raise another issue.

If your fastag doesn't have sufficient balance or you don't have a fastag, you get charged twice the amount.

But, if the tag reader can't read your tag/ handheld reader doesn't work/ the plaza doesn't have tag reader device on the top, then they ask you to pay cash. Shouldn't i be exempt under such case? I tried arguing my point at Deoband(UP) toll plaza but they ganged up on me and i may be misinformed, so i backed off

I have seen this many times. And you dared to raise a dispute in UP ? That too Deoband ?

Someone listed here that the ministry mentioned that there should be yellow line marked within 100m. I am still to find a toll where this yellow demarcation exists.

I have seen tolls where the tax is exorbitantly high and the moment you leave the toll you are welcomed with potholes ridden roads.

[careind]

Some of us do rant about it in the social media and groups like these, but the majority is indifferent.
Once I tried to hold up the traffic and argue with the Sriperumbudur toll guys and who do you think got abused by your fellow travellers?
No use blaming the government in social media if majority of the people dont question or lend support.

[ss125_i10]

Fully agree that for the toll taken, they should also ensure that the road is in a motorable condition.

This reminds me of the toll booth near my native place in Trivandrum which was recently opened. Name is Thiruvallam toll booth. This toll booth is in the Vizhinjam bypass which can be used for people who travel to Kanyakumari from Kollam/Ernakulam side and want to avoid city traffic.
Sadly, though toll booth was opened, the road was not completely opened. At some sections, they have blocked the highway completely and we have to take the sideroads.
At some places, where it is opened, you will see oncoming traffic suddenly as there is no crossings provided to enter the byroads which is scary.
Toll charge (Rs.70/-) is even higher than many other tolls in Kerala where we have proper roads.
So I would suggest to skip this route if possible till its complete.

[spd_tkt]

Yes please; we should stop seeing that level of accountability as an alien utopian concept and should instead embrace it as the normal. In fact, every organisation will go to the full extend to get that list dime from us commen folks.

[Bsimhan]

Originally Posted by iamahunter

Looks like atleast something was heard by the Ministry.
Not about the bad roads, but the wait time.

Agree with you. The wait time at the toll point is horrendous. The Hosur toll booth is a classic example of long wait times. Sometimes the wait has been as long as 25 minutes. I am yet to get to a point where the wait is less than 8 minutes. This is far too long. At no other point in the journey does it take so long. Clearly, there is something wrong with the set up. And no, there has been no refund or open boom gate for you to pass. The implementation of the 100 metres means that there will be 20 cars ahead of you (assuming that an average car takes up 4 to 5 metres). We need a better solution at Hosur. Rgds.

Originally Posted by aargee

So I paid, went ahead & parked the car. Had I still been waiting, I would've made some headlines atleast!! The register wasn't made available.

Once while returning to Chennai from Vellore, I too stopped at Sriperambadur toll and wanted to complain. I was asked to contact the "office". The office was a makeshift building on the other side of the highway. There was a register and I wrote my complaint about the roads in it. I was also handed some acknowledgement. But that was it. Nothing further happened. My family (who were travelling with me) thought that it might be a futile exercise and so it turned out to be. Rgds, Balaji

[airbus]

We can try to raise complaints at CPGRAMS (Centralized Public Grievance Redress And Monitoring System).

Years back, I raised a complaint about Fastag not working at Bankapur Toll Plaza on NH-48. While first complaint was answered casually by NHAI stating that it was not working only that day, but upon re-submission of the complaint, NHAI did take action on it, which they confirmed in a letter as well as with a phone call.

[anjan_c2007]

Logically, the toll operator should be liable for the proper construction, upkeep and maintenance of the civil works undertaken by it as an entity and Concessionaire. The government authority signing the Concession Agreement for the proposed Toll Tax liable road/ civil works (bridge/ tunnel etc) with the Concessionaire should require the entity to undertake such a project that is fair, tenable with rational clauses in the contract make it, just, not arbitrary in conformity to public policy. It should be amenable to review, either administrative or judicial.

In other words be it the post-Fastag or pre-Fastag eras, the Concession Agreement should not have clauses interwoven favourably and skewed in favour of the Concessionaire, who could have drafted such clauses in the agreement that disfavour the public or users of such civil works. The government authority could also be hand in glove with such Concessionaires too, with the view to deprive the public of proper services.

If the proper construction, maintenance and upkeep parts and the ensuing liability for the Concessionaire in the event of failures are properly drafted in the Concession Agreement and the government authorities are vigilant and upright, the users/ public can have better experiences.

But given our corrupt and white-ant infested system, such thoughts are Utopian and imaginary it appears, as on today!

The Gurgaon-Delhi-Gurgaon toll tax outlets had a record 125,000 cars and trucks passing through either way, every single day in 2011. I was studying an advanced course in a nearby management institute of repute, near the toll outlets. A professor had undertaken a dissertation project with his team of students to study the toll outlets and prepare a comprehensive report. Among the clauses cited in the Concession Agreement was the fact that if the waiting time exceeds these many minutes (if I remember, it was 10 minutes) the toll operator would have to compulsorily allow the vehicles in the particular queue to pass through without paying toll. One student according to the professor questioned the people in a booth defaulting and allowing vehicles to queue up for more than 10 minutes, as to why this section in the Concession Agreement was not being followed? Toll was to be paid in cash in 2011 and that took a lot of time plus the rush hours created queues. He received no reply. The same evening he told his professor about it. The professor cautioned him to remain low, saying these people are dangerous and can go to extremes.

[daspranab]

Originally Posted by CliffHanger

Now that we have FASTag, why should the monies go one way only to the corrupt and incompetents?

Yesterday, I was driving from Chennai to Bangalore and the roads till Vellore were horrible.

We all have a sense of whether what we pay for something is reasonable or not, and most of us agree that a lot of toll charges are exorbitant. Now that FASTag is in place, Government should implement two way credits-

1. Toll operators collect money for good roads from road users
2. Toll operators pay penalty to road users for poor roads

Both through FASTag.

This will ensure highways are properly maintained by the Toll operators, including maintaining markings, railings, rumblers, sign boards, etc.

I'm a big fan of our minister Nitin Gadkari for his ability to break conventions. I hope he thinks over on this.

What do you guys think?

Mods: Please add a poll: Yes or No. I'm not able to do it.

I suggest that the union gov decentralise maintenance of roads to local govs and pass act to penalize them heavily if there is a genuine complain from a motorist for bad road, local traffic on the highway in the wrong direction, and other abuses of the highways. Policing should be increased for traffic violations, too.

Secondly, dashcams should me mandated and if motorists complain with dashcam footage proving a violation or negligence, special virtual courts should speedily dispose of the cases, where no advocate will be needed.

[Dry Ice]

Novel idea. Worth making some noise on pgportal etc. Who knows if you provide enough proof, a refund might be possible?

Ideally, tolls should optional. If I don’t wish to pay the toll, there should be alternate options. But with most highways (including state highways) becoming toll roads, its practically impossible to plan a route bypassing the tolls. Right now its far from a service you pay for willingly - it’s a mandatory charge.

[BHPjunkie]

Originally Posted by CliffHanger

Now that we have FASTag, why should the monies go one way only to the corrupt and incompetents?

Yesterday, I was driving from Chennai to Bangalore and the roads till Vellore were horrible.

We all have a sense of whether what we pay for something is reasonable or not, and most of us agree that a lot of toll charges are exorbitant. Now that FASTag is in place, Government should implement two way credits-

1. Toll operators collect money for good roads from road users
2. Toll operators pay penalty to road users for poor roads

Both through FASTag.

This will ensure highways are properly maintained by the Toll operators, including maintaining markings, railings, rumblers, sign boards, etc.

I'm a big fan of our minister Nitin Gadkari for his ability to break conventions. I hope he thinks over on this.

What do you guys think?

Mods: Please add a poll: Yes or No. I'm not able to do it.

How does it ensure what penalty is paid and who the money is going to? Over the top tax payers are anyways paying the toll for the bad roads!

Why not have one lane at toll booths wherein you can pass through without paying the toll citing bad roads?

[Jhinchak]

While its an interesting idea but why collect the money in the first place and then return to the user?

There should perhaps be an independent body which checks the conditions of roads and then decides the fare to be charged. There could be a rating system which they can implement and based on the highest rating the higher toll slab can be implement while no fare for the worst rated roads.

[NoLurkerForLong]

Originally Posted by Jhinchak

While its an interesting idea but why collect the money in the first place and then return to the user?

There should perhaps be an independent body which checks the conditions of roads and then decides the fare to be charged. There could be a rating system which they can implement and based on the highest rating the higher toll slab can be implement while no fare for the worst rated roads.

Theoretically its a nice idea. When it comes to implementation I am sure the current toll will become baseline and additional money will be collected for well maintained road.

Even before we go there, I think Govt should ensure transparency in the cost involved in building and maintaining the road. Many of the toll operators have recouped their initial capital investment and maintain the same toll amount while just maintaining the road. How is it still allowed?

This is on top of the high estimation involved in laying the road. The cost per mile in India rivals that of US and the quality is nowhere comparable.