Public money is being wasted in the name of infrastructure

After fuel, toll charge has become biggest expense for the sector. Each truck that has national permit on an average pays around Rs 4 to 5 lakh per year for toll. There are around one crore trucks and buses registered in India. All along, they kept on paying this money thinking that all the money is being collected for a better cause of nation building. But it is not reflected in any of the state or central budget. 

They have been resisting toll collection system only because it is acting as an impediment to traffic. In spite of having better roads, average mileage of a truck remains the same, whereas expenses have gone up. Despite this, they are ready to pay Rs 20,000 crore upfront annually to stop this, but the Union Ministry is still in the thinking stage. 

The way accounts on toll collection are maintained is another pain point. Because of under-reporting of the number of vehicles paying toll, the private concessionaires are getting their contract extended to recover their cost. Due to this, the road cost that can be recovered in five years is shown as recoverable only in 20 years. 

Thus, on one side, there is 10 per cent year-on-year growth in number of vehicles registered, but on the other side, the number of vehicles paying toll are either remaining the same or even reducing on some roads. Most surprising is the NHAI’s plan to widen four-lane roads into six lanes, even in the case of the roads where traffic is reducing or has remained stagnant for the last decade. 

The many irregularities in toll collection, traffic census, car per unit, toll calculation formula and toll rate hike have led to objections raised even by government audit departments over the years. 

There already exists a cess on diesel and petrol, and toll is also on in addition to that. Isn’t that burdening all commuters and transport community with payment of double (or many times) to use the same road? Before charging toll, our governments should give accountability on Motor Vehicle Tax, One-Time Road Tax, Passenger and Goods Tax, and regular Road tax that they collect in crores of rupees each year.