BackDND flyway toll charges scrapped by Allahabad high court
The Allahabad high court ruled that the levy of the toll on the Delhi-Noida-Direct flyway was 'unfair and unjust' and that the users and commuters were being illegally taxed
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New Delhi: Vehicle drivers using the Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) expressway won’t have to pay toll charges, according to a Allahabad high court ruling. The high court on Wednesday directed the Noida Toll Bridge Co., the concessionaire for the DND flyway, to stop collecting toll or user fee from vehicles.
Petitioner group Noida Residents Welfare Association challenged the levy of toll by the Noida Toll Bridge Co. as a “user fee" for accessing the 9.2 km eight-lane expressway between Noida and Delhi. Cars were charged Rs25 and two-wheelers Rs12. A two-judge bench comprising justices Arun Tandon and Sunita Agrawal, in a 121-page ruling, said the levy of the toll was “unfair and unjust" and that the users and commuters were being illegally taxed. The court also declared the clause allowing Noida Toll Bridge to collect toll as inoperative and bad in law. It said that method of calculating the total project cost of the expressway was arbitrary and against public policy.
The court noted in its ruling that Noida Toll Bridge had recovered Rs810.18 crore from toll income since the commencement of the expressway till 31 March 2014. Approximately Rs300 crore more was realized through user fee or toll between 1 April 2014 and 30 September 2016, the court noted. Calls made and emails sent to the Noida Toll Bridge Co. and the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority were not answered.
The court order will have implications for development for toll roads across India, an expert said. “Since Gujarat and Maharashtra have more or less abolished tolling, it is going to be very crucial for toll roads in India," said Abhaya Agarwal, partner and PPP (public-private partnership) leader at consulting firm Ernst and Young. However, he added that “the mobility is not going to enhance substantially due to this decision because there are several congestion points on the corridor anyway like Okhla and South Extention when one takes the DND route."
Manasi Lohumi contributed to this story.
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