Out-of-town cruises to get costlier

NEW DELHI: Two-lane national highways will now attract toll fee. The national tolling policy will introduce tolling of two-lane national highways for the first time. So far, toll has been charged on four and six-lane roads.

The policy, likely to be finalised this week, exempts two and three wheelers. Toll rates for both build-operate-transfer (BOT) and public-funded projects will be uniform and revised annually.

Two-lane highways will be tolled at 70% of the rate for four-lane highways. While the policy will introduce uniformity in toll rates for private and public-funded projects, there will be separate charges for expressways, tunnels, bypasses and ring roads.

Till now, charges for public-funded projects were revised every five years while those for BOT projects were revised annually. The new policy has, however, decided to increase toll rates for both the types of projects by 3% every year. Additionally, 40% of the annual increase in WPI will be incorporated in the revision of toll rates.

Concessions will be offered to frequent travellers, who can buy a monthly pass worth Rs 150. There will also be a 25% discount for the return journey if it is made the same day.

To check avoidance of toll, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will be permitted to set up barriers within a distance of 10 km from the toll plaza. However, permission will be given only in case of complaints of toll evasion at a particular toll plaza.

“The basic policy is ready. The specific toll rules, including the fee rules, will be finalised this week,” a government official said.

The minimum distance between two toll plazas has been set at 65 km. Currently, the average distance between plazas is about 45 km.

The government is also finalising a uniform tolling technology for electronic toll collection. NHAI would commission consultants for conducting studies and the technology is likely to cover the entire network throughout the country within three years.