Gurgaon e-way can't yet collect toll: Govt report

NEW DELHI: The private operator of the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway currently has no right to levy toll charges from users of the stretch. That���s what a probe carried out by an arm of the corporate affairs ministry has concluded. The probe says the operator started collecting toll on the basis of a provisional certificate without providing facilities vital for the safety and smooth flow of traffic.

The report seeks to restrain the operator from charging toll from the users of the expressway until all shortcomings ��� as pointed out by the Central Road Research Institute in its June 2008 report ��� are completed.
Acting on the probe findings of the Director General of Investigation and Registration , sources said the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission has sent a notice of inquiry to all stakeholders ��� NHAI, private operator DSC, departments concerned of the Delhi and Haryana governments ��� for ���deficient services which have been causing huge casualties besides inconvenience among users��� .

The report has graphically analysed accident rates that have gone up substantially ever since the expressway started. ������ In 57 months between March 2003 and December 2007 on the said stretch, 119 persons lost their lives and 1,756 were injured. In the 14 months between January 2008 and March 2009 ��� after the expressway came up ��� more than 120 persons have lost lives and 100 have been injured ,������ the report states.

ROAD BLOCK

No. Of Vehicles That Passed In June 2008

Delhi Haryana Border (in lakh) 1.39

Khekri Toll Plaza (in lakh) 0.48

This volume of traffic was projected for 2020

DGIR says, ���NHAI has influenced notified toll charges in a most deceptive manner resulting in undue gains to private party at the cost of public���

Also says, ���Toll expressway has been allowed on basis of issuance of a temporary certificate. It should have been done only after completion certificate���