Maharashtra to review road toll policy; may scrap 40 road toll plazas

MUMBAI: The BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra is set to review the state’s roadtoll policy and may soon scrap close to 40 road toll plazas, according to the state’s PWD minister, Chandrakantdada Patil.

Patil told ET on Sunday that a committee has been set up under PP Joshi, an infrastructure sector expert, to review and revamp the road toll policy prepared and implemented by the previous Congress-NCP government. The state government is also looking into whether private light motor vehicles (cars) can be exempted from road toll and about 5% additional toll recovered from commercial small and heavy vehicles to try and bridge revenue shortfall.

However, this exemption for cars may not apply to toll collection at special city projects like the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, where over 90% of vehicles are private cars. Transparency in road toll collection had become a major political issue ahead of the Assembly polls in the state. The BJP had announced that it would make Maharashtra a toll-free state if elected to power.