Public outcry against ‘fleecing’ toll plazas

Sumedha Sharma

As the entire nation gears up to implement National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) from December 1, the residents of Haryana eagerly want the state government to also implement it and provide respite from toll plaza woes plaguing them for decades. 

While the anti-toll plaza sentiment is rampant across the state, the Kherki Daula toll plaza in Gurugram has transformed it into a national issue.

Be it the persistent demand to raze it or shift it, continuous confrontation between lakhs of Manesar and New Gurugram residents or repeated instances of attack on toll employees, the toll plaza has emerged as an epitome of what ails our toll plazas.

Set up almost a decade ago, the plaza, which once symbolised road infrastructure development with the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway, today tops the list of woes of Gurugram residents.

Having united under fronts like Toll Hatao Samiti, the residents who have been demanding its removal for the past three years have now started taking to the roads and are moving court.

The toll operator, Millennium City Expressway Private Ltd (MCPEL), claims to be running in losses and still recovering the cost of building, but an RTI filed by activist Harinder Dhingra is surely an eye opener. 

According to this RTI, the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway had cost Rs 550 crore while the expenditure on the change of scope was Rs 113 crore.

According to information revealed in the RTI, the project has generated revenue of Rs 697 crore since it was awarded.

“People are suffering and being looted to fill the pockets of the company. Its cost has been recovered,” says activist Dhingra. 

There is no denying the fact that the toll plaza is a major choking point on the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway. 

It’s not just traffic congestion but also vehicular pollution and alleged extortion of toll from residents of Gurugram commuting within the city that is leading to a major uproar.

The residents, who had initially been just protesting, are now involved in day-to-day clashes with the toll operator. 

Last week, the residents pooled in money to concretise a ‘kutcha’ (dirt) road that would have helped them bypass the toll plaza, but the toll operator went ahead and dug it up, saying it would cause him a monthly loss of Rs 9 lakh. The residents protested and seven FIRs were registered against them. 

Two days later, things got murkier with thousands of residents of new sectors confronting villagers of Kherki Daula village. 

The villagers have barred them from using the 150m road connecting the village to the toll service road. 

The villagers allegedly at the behest of the toll operator barricaded the road with bamboo sticks to prevent the entry of cars in the village and put up a signboard reading “not a common passage”.

The villagers claim that they had pooled in money for the signboard to prevent cabs and residents of the new sectors from going through their village to avoid toll as it causes pollution and could result in collisions. 

According to the villagers, the 150m road was carved out and opened for public on October 3 by Millennium City Expressway Private Ltd (MCEPL), the concessionaire of the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway. 

MCEPL has refused to intervene saying it is a village road and the villagers have authority over it. Hence, it cannot interfere in the matter.

According to an NHAI survey, over 25 lakh vehicles cross the toll plaza every month. The poor traffic management at the plaza and subsequent congestion on Gurugram roads are major problems. 

Earlier, the government had planned to shift it to Sehrawan village, but the residents approached the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The tribunal raised objections and the government changed the site to Pachgaon. But its residents went to court and the matter got stuck in legal tangles. The local residents represented by DXP Welfare Association started a “missed call” campaign to garner support for shifting the toll plaza and reportedly got 5,000 missed calls on first day.

Move on quickly with Fastag

• FASTag will become mandatory for all vehicles from December 2019. Any private or commercial vehicle which has FASTag will be able to make contactless payments swiftly at toll plazas on national highways.
• FASTag comes under the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) programme that has been developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
• Haryana is among eight states that have signed MOU for Fastag.

About Fastag

• Fastag is a radio-frequency identification (RFID)-enabled tag attached to your car. When you drive through any toll plaza that has FASTag readers installed overhead, the RFID code is detected, read, the required amount is deducted from the prepaid balance and your journey through the toll plaza is authenticated. 

How to get it

• You can either buy one at a toll plaza anywhere in India. You need to carry your identification and the vehicle registration documents along with you. There is a mandatory KYC process.
• You can also buy one on amazon.in or approach individual banks for these FASTag. 
• The banks that are offering FASTag are HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Airtel Payments Bank and Paytm Payments Bank.

What ails toll plazas

• Prolonged waiting time: The plazas require vehicles to stop or slow down. Then, manual toll collection is done which wastes time and raises vehicle operating cost.
• Traffic congestion: While toll plazas are meant to collect revenue for hassle-free travel, it is ironic that the toll plazas in Haryana are the most-congested points in a district or highway.
• Payment for commuting within city limits: Gurugram residents travelling to Manesar for work have to shell out Rs 130 daily.

DISTRICT SCAN

Karnal

Karnal has only one toll plaza near Bastara village on National Highway-44. The toll collection company M/s Panipat-Jalandhar NH-1 Tollways Pvt Ltd is operating the project on BOT (build, operate and transfer) basis for 15 years since 2009. Earlier, it was being operated at Samanabahu village near Nilokheri. In 2014, it was shifted near Bastara village. It charges Rs 125 from light motor vehicles — car, jeep — for single-time journey and Rs 185 for up and down. Similarly, truck drivers have to pay Rs 430 for a single journey and Rs 645 for both sides. It charges Rs 695 for single journey from multi-axle vehicle and Rs 1,040 for both sides.

Ambala

As per NHAI officials, there is a toll plaza in operation in Ambala known as Shambhu toll plaza on NH-1. It was handed over to SOMA in 2009 for 15 years. Another toll plaza will come into operation on Ambala-Kaithal road from November.

Hisar

Toll rates for cars going one side

Landhary on Sirsa road Rs 75  

Choudhariwas on Rajgarh road Rs 55

Mayyar on Delhi road Rs 75

Sarsod on Chandigarh road Rs 95

Faridabad, Palwal

As many as eight toll plazas are there in Faridabad and Palwal districts. These include the toll point on the national highway at Badarpur border (Faridabad-Delhi). It was opened on November 2010. The other seven plazas include the toll gates on Faridabad-Gurugram road, Ballabgarh- Sohna road, opened in July 2012.

Others are located at Maujpur village (KGP expressway), two plazas at KMP and KGP expressways falling in Palwal district (started in 2017 and 2018), toll plaza at the national highway on Tumsara in Hodal subdivision (started in 2003) and another at Rahimpur village of Palwal district (2017).