The attempt to bring about an out-of-court settlement between Delhi-Gurgaon Super Connectivity (DGSCL),the company that operates the Gurgaon Expressway,and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) failed. This would,however,not impact the system of toll collection at the expressway. The company did not accept our conditions in totality and the negotiations have failed. Now,all the issues will be presented to the court tomorrow, said a senior NHAI official,who did not want to be identified. The case will be heard at the Delhi High Court on Thursday. The company and its financiers had moved the court after the highways authority had alleged fraud by the company and issued it a show-cause notice in February this year. The NHAI board,which includes secretaries of the Planning Commission,department of expenditure and the department of roads as members,had prepared a draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the company. The draft MoU has two sections one on improving finances of the company and the other is on improving commuter facility and safety aspect. The MoU was sent to the company on August 17. DGSCL did not comment on the issue saying that the matter is sub judice. In the finance aspect,the board has asked the company to bring down its debt to a little over Rs 1,203 crore from Rs 1,570 crore now by refinancing it twice. The NHAI had alleged that DGSCL had committed fraud in the form of re-financing the project without getting its approval. The company,it said,had changed lenders twice to raise loan of Rs 1,597 crore and didnt seek NHAIs permission in the second instance. In the commuter facility and safety aspect,the company has announced a slew of measure to increase safety and ease the problems of long jam at the toll plaza. The draft wants 11 more toll gates to be built at the main toll plaza for smooth passage of commuters. It has also asked the company to introduce smart cards and waive off the security fee charged for the smart tag,which currently comes at a charge of Rs 1,500. It also suggested that the monthly pass for the commuters using the toll plaza should be valid for 40 trips and not 60 trips. This was proposed,as it was found that a lot of people with monthly passes are not able to make 60 trips in a months and the unused portion lapses.
