Relief to vehicle owners: Toll slashed up to 50% for elevated highway portions

According to the new formula, the minimum length will be calculated by adding 10 times the length of the structure to the net road length or 5 times the total length of the section of the National Highway, whichever is lesser.

For instance, if a section of the National Highway has a total length of 40 km, with 30 km structure and 10 km net road, then the minimum length will be computed as 10 x 30+10 = 310 km or five times the total length of the section of the National Highway which is 5x40km = 200 km. The user fee will be calculated for the lesser length that is for 200 km.

This will be a huge relief for users who travel on stretches of highways where structures account for more than half the length. Under the new mechanism to determine toll fees, a one-way car trip will cost Rs 292 at Rs 1.46/km as per National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008. This fee will be much higher for a taxi, a commercial vehicle.

The user fee is higher for structure sections of the National Highways to recover the cost incurred in construction of tunnels, bridges or elevated stretches on the highway.

The Ministry said that for the existing public-funded toll plazas, the new rule will be effective from the date of next scheduled user fee revision. For the new toll plazas, it will apply since the commencement of the date of operation. For concessionaire operated fee plazas, it will come into effect upon expiry of concession agreements.

Officials said that the new rule will mostly benefit the commercial vehicle as they are charged four to five times of what is paid by private vehicle owners, who also have an option to buy an annual pass of Rs 3,000 to cut down toll spending burden.

“For example, in the Delhi-Dehradun expressway, the elevated structure on the Delhi side is 18 km and on the Dehradun side, it is passing through a 15-km wildlife elevated corridor. The commercial vehicles will have to pay up to 50% less toll for the structure section. Similarly, the toll on other key elevated structures such as Nashik Phata-Khed and Danapur-Bihta will also be reduced. The 28.5 km Dwarka Expressway has 21 km of structures. Thus, the new rule will be a big relief for commuters on this expressway,” said an official.