In what could come as a breather for commuters, the ministry of road transport and highways has circulated a Cabinet note proposing several changes to the current toll regime.
Among the proposed changes are: Rounding-off of the toll amount to the nearest R5 denomination, making less-than-10m-wide roads toll-free and stipulating that the developer can charge only up to 80% of the toll value during the conversion of four-lane roads into six-lane ones. Further, in case of conversion of one-lane and two-lane roads into four-lane ones, tolling can begin only after the construction is complete.
The move is aimed at cutting down the time spent at toll booths and enabling faster movement of traffic. The proposal to allow developers to charge only 80% of the toll during the time of construction would build up pressure on them to speed up work.
A senior road ministry official said, ?The ministry feels that there is a need to rationalise the tolling norms for which the Cabinet note has been circulated for inter-ministerial consultations.?
Rounding-off of the toll fees to the nearest R5 denomination would ease the hassle of providing loose change at toll booths.
The ministry feels that the developers often unnecessarily delay the construction work and they don?t get penalised for it. Analysts say that during the construction time, a commuter is virtually left with a three-lane drive instead of four and, so, should pay less.
On the proposal to remove toll on less-than-10-m-wide national highways, it is understood that the government wants to revisit the 2008 toll notification where it had allowed tolling on these highways.
?Less than 10-m-wide stretches mean that the roads are very narrow and I think they should be made toll-free,? said Feedback Infrastructure chairman Vinayak Chatterjee. As of now, there are around 15,000 km of national highways in India which are less than 10 m wide.
Asked about the financial implications of such a move, a senior NHAI official said, ?The financial implication could be to a maximum of around 5% of the current toll revenue since these are low-traffic highways.?
Observers say this proposal may find opposition from the Planning Commission as the panel had, in 2008, insisted on allowing tolling on these highways as they are largely awarded on the EPC mode and the amount spent by the authority on the upgrade of these could be recovered from the toll. This was even though the ministry had then agreed to bear the cost of upgrade.
The Cabinet note has also proposed that the concession period start from the appointed date or before, as per the mutual agreement of the government and the developer. As of now, the concession period starts from the commercial operation date (COD).
Rajeev Bhatnagar, CEO Highways, Feedback Infra, said: ?It would help developers in projects where two lanes are being converting into four lanes, as the developer was allowed to start tolling only after reaching the commercial operations date.?
Besides, the note proposes to have a toll of 1.25 times the current 4,6-lane toll for upcoming expressways. This norm, however, would be for the future as, currently, there are no Central government expressways.
