NEW DELHI: In a relief for highway commuters, toll on under expansion stretches — from two-lane to four-lane — will soon be halved during the construction period and the user fee on partially opened expressways such as Delhi-Mumbai and Amritsar-Jamnagar will be same as that of other NHs. At present, the toll on expressways is 1.25 times of other NH stretches.TOI has learnt that the finance ministry has given the green light to the two proposals from the road transport and highways ministry. The latter had proposed to halve toll during expansion of 10-metre-wide two-lane highways with paved shoulders to four-lane highways since commuters don’t get the desired service as the width of road gets reduced available while construction is underway.Currently, during expansion of a two-lane highway to four lanes, the toll charged is around 60% of the normal NH toll. With the concurrence of the finance ministry to the proposal, soon user fee will drop to 30% of normal toll during the construction phase. The finance ministry has asked the highways ministry to monitor and ensure strict enforcement of penalties on contractors for missing timeline in such widening projects. Officials said that while giving the go ahead for bringing toll rates on partially opened expressways on par with other NHs, the finance ministry said such relief should be for one year or till the expressway is fully operational, whichever is earlier. The highways ministry had submitted that vehicles, particularly heavy commercial vehicles, were not using expressways for higher toll rates.The finance ministry has said a decision on continuing this relaxation beyond one year may be taken based on actual uptake of traffic on such expressways. It has also asked the highways ministry to impose penalties on contractors for delay in completion of works.
