The common people, who are facing the cost of expensive petrol and diesel, will now have to loose more pockets to walk on the road. Toll tax rates are going to increase from Friday midnight at toll plazas across the country. The government has linked toll tax to the Wholesale Price Index (WPI). Therefore, every year the toll tax is increasing by 8 to 12 per cent on national highways without increasing any convenience for the passengers.
Regional Officers (ROs) of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) issues notification for hike in toll rates of individual National Highway Projects (Toll Roads). The department hikes the toll rates in proportion to the WPI. Accordingly, from 12 o’clock on Friday night, the toll companies will implement the increased rates of toll from 8 to 12 percent. In this, the tax rates for private and commercial vehicles are different. These increased rates can range from Rs 10 to Rs 40. There are 816 toll plazas across the country.
Experts consider the government’s policy of linking toll tax with WPI wrong. They believe that WPI is related to inflation. But how can highways be expensive in a year? Apart from this, the sales of vehicles are increasing by 10-12 per cent every year. The toll rates are determined on the basis of the cost of the highway project and the income generated from the daily traffic on it.
The technical aspect is that with the increase in the number of vehicles, the toll rates should come down. Similarly, there is a rule that after recovering the cost of the project, there should be a rebate of 40 percent in tax. There are a large number of highway projects, the cost of which has been recovered by toll companies. But the concession is not being given to the road passengers.