Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: In a relief to commuters using partially opened expressways such as Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Katra and Amritsar-Jamnagar, the toll on these corridors will be same as that of other NHs, as per a notification issued by the road transport ministry. Till now the toll on expressways was 1.25 times of other NH stretches.The notification issued this week said that the rate of fee for use of a national expressway which is in operation for only a part of its notified length shall be levied at the rate of normal highways “for a period of one year” or till the expressway is fully operational, whichever is earlier. TOI on Jan 2 had first reported the finance ministry giving go ahead to this proposal of highways ministry considering that commuters don’t avail the full facility of an expressway till the entire stretch isn’t opened.Secondly, the the highways ministry had submitted that vehicles, particularly heavy commercial vehicles, were not using the partially opened expressways because of higher toll rates. The finance ministry had said that a decision on continuing the relaxation beyond one year may be taken based on actual uptake of traffic on such expressways. It had also asked the highways ministry to impose penalties on contractors for delay in completion of works.
