NHAI hikes user fee at 20 of 43 toll plazas in Tamil Nadu
Ram Sundaram | TNN | Mar 28, 2019, 10:09 IST
Representative imageCHENNAI: Road trips will soon cost extra as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is set to increase user fees at nearly half of the toll plazas located in Tamil Nadu.
Of the 43 plazas in the state, motorists will be paying ?5 to ?15 above the existing fee at 20 toll plazas in TN from April 1. Among them, six are located on highway stretches connecting Chennai to Bengaluru, Salem and Madurai. This includes toll plazas at Paranur near Chengelpet, Sriperumbudur and Surapet along Chennai Bypass. Official data shows that most of these tolls have been in operation since 2005 and have collected more than ?1,560 crore as of 2016.
Other toll plazas, where revised rates will be in effect, are located in Madurai, Trichy, Vellore (two), Coimbatore, Tuticorin, Tirunelveli (three), and Sivaganga (two).
S Arun, a trader from Madurai who visits Chennai once a week, said, “I already pay a toll of more than ?800 for a oneway trip to Chennai. (This revision) will force us to depend on buses which are invariably late during weekends.”
Private omni bus operators attribute the delay to the number of toll plazas, traffic congestion in Chennai’s suburbs (from Perungalathur to Chengalpet) and the failure in expanding highway stretches as per demand. Data suggests that more than one lakh vehicles cross Chengalpet on a daily basis but as the road’s capacity allows only 35,000 per day. Six-way conversion plans remain on paper.
Besides delay, bus rates will also increase with toll fee revision. “Diesel rates have shot up but, fares are not increased. This will result in operational losses,” said a Chennai-based private omni bus operator.
Experts said this will have a cascading effect on prices of essential commodities brought along these stretches and said NHAI should desist from revising the fee as it hasn’t provided adequate facilities. In response, NHAI officials said contractors incharge of constructing and maintaining these plazas are allowed to revise the user fee for vehicles every year based on the Wholesale Price Index.
Of the 43 plazas in the state, motorists will be paying ?5 to ?15 above the existing fee at 20 toll plazas in TN from April 1. Among them, six are located on highway stretches connecting Chennai to Bengaluru, Salem and Madurai. This includes toll plazas at Paranur near Chengelpet, Sriperumbudur and Surapet along Chennai Bypass. Official data shows that most of these tolls have been in operation since 2005 and have collected more than ?1,560 crore as of 2016.
Other toll plazas, where revised rates will be in effect, are located in Madurai, Trichy, Vellore (two), Coimbatore, Tuticorin, Tirunelveli (three), and Sivaganga (two).
S Arun, a trader from Madurai who visits Chennai once a week, said, “I already pay a toll of more than ?800 for a oneway trip to Chennai. (This revision) will force us to depend on buses which are invariably late during weekends.”
Private omni bus operators attribute the delay to the number of toll plazas, traffic congestion in Chennai’s suburbs (from Perungalathur to Chengalpet) and the failure in expanding highway stretches as per demand. Data suggests that more than one lakh vehicles cross Chengalpet on a daily basis but as the road’s capacity allows only 35,000 per day. Six-way conversion plans remain on paper.
Besides delay, bus rates will also increase with toll fee revision. “Diesel rates have shot up but, fares are not increased. This will result in operational losses,” said a Chennai-based private omni bus operator.
Experts said this will have a cascading effect on prices of essential commodities brought along these stretches and said NHAI should desist from revising the fee as it hasn’t provided adequate facilities. In response, NHAI officials said contractors incharge of constructing and maintaining these plazas are allowed to revise the user fee for vehicles every year based on the Wholesale Price Index.
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