Highway toll system hits a roadblock

The government is mulling whether to allow private road operators to charge higher toll during peak traffic hours. The road transport and highways department, however, is opposed to the idea.

This was to be part of a draft model concession agreement but was removed later following objections raised by the road transport department. The issue is expected to be discussed by a committee of secretaries set up for the purpose.

"Our system of collecting highway tolls is not very mature and collecting separate tolls for peak-hour traffic and non-peak-hour traffic may not work," a road transport ministry official said.

He added, a higher toll would discourage people from using highways during the peak hours, defeating the very purpose of having different tariffs.

The official also said the issues of immediate concern were whether or not to levy user charges on two-laned highways and the extent of indexation of tolls to inflation. Officials said the road transport department was proposing that tolls change in proportion to inflation. Earlier, a 40 per cent indexation had been proposed.

Other issues that the road transport department is opposed to are the congestion rebate that users can enjoy if traffic surpassed a specified cap for the year. The draft agreement has also prescribed that overloaded vehicles be allowed to ply after paying extra charges.

On the issue of the congestion rebate, the view of the road transport department is that it is unfair to subject an operator to such a provision in absence of alternative highways. Moreover, the concession agreement provides for widening of highways further to 6 lanes, once congestion sets in.

The proposal for allowing overloaded vehicles had to be rejected at the outset as the it was against the law and also due to a recent Delhi High Court judgment asking state governments to unload goods that exceeded specified limits.

The toll policy was the bone of contention between the road transport department and the Planning Commission, when the model concession agreement was being finalised.

It was then decided that the new concession agreement, unveiled by the Planning Commission recently, will not govern the tolling aspect of the build-operate-transfer projects. Existing norms will be followed till the new policy is finalised.