Travel to get expensive as toll rates to increase from April 1
Prices Of Essentials May Shoot Up: Experts
Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com 27.03.2018
Chennai: Travel to western and southern districts from the city is likely to get expensive soon as user fee at 20 toll gates, including six in the city’s suburbs, is set to go up by 10% from April 1.
Price of essential commodities brought in to the city through these toll gates is likely to shoot up, say experts.
Of the total 461 toll gates across the country administered by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), 42 are located in Tamil Nadu. Contractors in-charge of constructing and maintaining these toll gates are allowed to revise the user fee for vehicles every year based on the Wholesale Price Index Accordingly, user fee at 22 toll gates were revised in September 2017 and remaining 20 located across the state are to be revised from April 1.
This includes six toll gates located in and around Chennai-Paranur near Villupuram, Chennasamudram and Sriperumbudur in Kancheepuram zone, Surapet, Patarrai Perumbudur, Tiruthani and Vanagaram in Thiruvallur zone.
The other 14 toll gates are located in Vellore, Coimbatore, Salem, Krishnagiri, Madurai, Tuticorin, Tirunelveli, Trichy and Sivangangai.
NHAI officials had worked up the revised user fee for these gates. Accordingly, cars and other light motor vehicles will have to pay 10% more than what they have been paying so far, said a NHAI official.
“Contrary to reports stating that heavy duty vehicles like trucks and buses would be paying 20 % more, the official said the increase for those category of vehicles in less than 6%. “In some toll gates, there is zero-hike in user fee”.
“Though most of these roads are not maintained properly, the authorities have not desisted from increasing the toll rates periodically,” said A Ashok, a resident of Ambattur.
“No promised amenities including toilets, drinking water kiosks, emergency telephone lines, food plazas and healthcare centres have come up in all the stretches maintained by NHAI,” he added.
Experts say that besides trucks carrying essential commodities like vegetables, milk and other perishable items, fare of private omni buses might also increase because of the rise.
However, government buses and private moffusil buses will not face this heat as the Tamil Nadu government recently amended the rules allowing them to collect toll cess as a part of the bus ticket fare collected from passengers, a senior official from the state transport department told TOI.
Prices Of Essentials May Shoot Up: Experts
Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com 27.03.2018
Chennai: Travel to western and southern districts from the city is likely to get expensive soon as user fee at 20 toll gates, including six in the city’s suburbs, is set to go up by 10% from April 1.
Price of essential commodities brought in to the city through these toll gates is likely to shoot up, say experts.
Of the total 461 toll gates across the country administered by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), 42 are located in Tamil Nadu. Contractors in-charge of constructing and maintaining these toll gates are allowed to revise the user fee for vehicles every year based on the Wholesale Price Index Accordingly, user fee at 22 toll gates were revised in September 2017 and remaining 20 located across the state are to be revised from April 1.
This includes six toll gates located in and around Chennai-Paranur near Villupuram, Chennasamudram and Sriperumbudur in Kancheepuram zone, Surapet, Patarrai Perumbudur, Tiruthani and Vanagaram in Thiruvallur zone.
The other 14 toll gates are located in Vellore, Coimbatore, Salem, Krishnagiri, Madurai, Tuticorin, Tirunelveli, Trichy and Sivangangai.
NHAI officials had worked up the revised user fee for these gates. Accordingly, cars and other light motor vehicles will have to pay 10% more than what they have been paying so far, said a NHAI official.
“Contrary to reports stating that heavy duty vehicles like trucks and buses would be paying 20 % more, the official said the increase for those category of vehicles in less than 6%. “In some toll gates, there is zero-hike in user fee”.
“Though most of these roads are not maintained properly, the authorities have not desisted from increasing the toll rates periodically,” said A Ashok, a resident of Ambattur.
“No promised amenities including toilets, drinking water kiosks, emergency telephone lines, food plazas and healthcare centres have come up in all the stretches maintained by NHAI,” he added.
Experts say that besides trucks carrying essential commodities like vegetables, milk and other perishable items, fare of private omni buses might also increase because of the rise.
However, government buses and private moffusil buses will not face this heat as the Tamil Nadu government recently amended the rules allowing them to collect toll cess as a part of the bus ticket fare collected from passengers, a senior official from the state transport department told TOI.
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