Private cars will have to pay toll on Mumbai-Pune expressway for at least 12 more years
The Maharashtra Government told Bombay High Court that private cars will have to continue paying toll at least till April 2030
Private car owners will have to continue paying toll on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway for at least 12 more years, the Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court on Tuesday.
The government informed the court while it had initially contemplated exempting light motor vehicles from paying levy at five toll plazas along the expressway, it had decided against granting any exemptions for now.
The same was communicated via an affidavit filed through the Public Works Department (PWD) yesterday.
The state told a bench led by Justice R M Savant that it had considered factors like the flow of traffic, the number of vehicles using the expressway each day and its financial resources to come to the conclusion that vehicles will have to pay toll at the plazas along the expressway at least till April 2030.
The submissions were made by the government in compliance with a previous order of the high court.
Back in July, the high court had asked the state to decide whether toll collection on the expressway was to be scrapped since IRB Infrastructure Developers, the contractor in charge of the 90km corridor, has already collected Rs 145 crore more than the anticipated amount in toll.
The court was hearing a plea seeking that the right of the contractor to collect toll along the expressway be revoked. The plea, a public interest litigation (PIL), has been filed by four petitioners, including activist Pravin Wategaonkar.
It claims the contractor has already recovered the cost of the project as per its agreement with the state authorities and yet, continues to collect toll, thus making a “wrongful gain”.
The plea claims that earlier last year, the chief minister had announced that 12 toll plazas across the state would be closed.
The PIL also claimed that the state had promised to exempt light motor vehicles from paying toll on 53 toll plazas across Maharashtra from June 1, 2015, but the state had failed to take a final decision on the same.
The state, however, informed the bench the contractor (IRB Infra) had neither made any wrongful gains nor had it breached any terms of the contract with the government.
The next hearing in the matter will take place on September 27.
Last month, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis-led infrastructure projects committee, approved the construction of a new lane in the ghat section between Khopoli and Khandala on the expressway.
The additional cost for implementing the project, which includes two tunnels totalling 11 km and a 2 km long connecting bridge, was expected to reportedly push toll collection till 2045.
With agency inputs
