Toll collection is all set to resume on national highways from Monday as the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) gave a go-ahead on Sunday, as per reports.
Tamil Nadu has 48 toll plazas in total which will open up for toll collection from Monday. The NHAI had suspended collecting toll money since the nationwide lockdown was announced due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), meanwhile, has also decided to hike the user fee by Rs 10, which is an increase of about 3-5% based on the type of the vehicle using the road. The user fee hike was supposed to come into force on April 1 in 26 toll plazas in the state, however since the toll fee collection was suspended due to lockdown, it will come into force on April 20.
As a result, truck owners have also hinted that freight charges would go up due to resumption in toll fee collection. Many have also opposed the need to hike the user fee at this point in time since the trucks are often forced to return empty due to the shutting down of industries and commercial establishments. Truck owners have also called for the suspension of toll fee collection for a year since they say that the economy will take its time to return to normalcy, during which payment of toll fee would be an added burden.
The NHAI is also considering compensating the toll operators for the losses incurred due to the suspension of toll collection in the plazas. It was only in December that the NHAI made it mandatory for all the vehicles to make toll payments electronically through FASTags attached to the vehicles. Vehicles that operated without FASTags and entering FASTag lanes were made to pay double the toll charges as penalty. Credit rating agency ICRA had also forecast a decrease of toll collections to the tune of 3% due to the countrywide lockdown as compared to the previous financial year.