Travelling to other districts in Tamil Nadu or inter-state from Chennai by car will cost `30 to `120 more from Friday as National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will be revising user fee cost at several toll plazas in the state.
Of the 55 toll plazas in the state, the fees will increase at 28 including those at Vikravandi, Omalur, Dharmapuri, Samayapuram, and Eliyarpathi on the Madurai-Tuticorin highway.
Though Nitin Gadkari, Union Road Transport Minister, announced that user fees at publicly funded toll plazas will be reduced to 40% once the project cost is recovered, nothing has materialised.
NHAI officials in response said that they haven’t got any notification from their headquarters regarding this, and they have revised the rates based on the local Wholesale Price Index just like the previous years.
This annual revision comes amidst not only stiff opposition from transporters and state government but also objections from Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.
Loopholes in implementing the rules forced road users to pay excess user fees and incur losses, the CAG said in its report last week. Political parties in the state have urged NHAI to stop fee collection until these discrepancies are resolved.
“Most of the highway stretches in the state are poorly maintained.
“Even those abutting Chennai don’t have streetlights resulting in more accidents of late, emergency reporting systems and clean toilets at toll plazas” said S Yuvraj from Tamil Nadu Lorry Owners’ Association.
Traders and retailers say that such routine rate revision has had a cascading effect on prices of essential commodities transported through trucks that use these toll roads.