NEW DELHI: The highways ministry has set up a panel to identify conditions – a measurable criteria for determining commuter “inconvenience” – under which authorities can take a call on whether to suspend or reduce toll collection on poorly maintained national highway stretches.The decision came amid growing public demand and observations by various high courts over suspension or reduction of toll collection, or user fees, on NHs that lack proper maintenance. Supreme Court had earlier noted that the public could not be forced to pay toll for roads in a state of disrepair.”First, we need to have clear criteria linking toll collection with riding quality and maintenance of an NH stretch. Reducing or suspending toll collection due to a few potholes or small damaged portions may not be fair. Therefore, there is a need to define inconvenience in a quantifiable, not subjective, manner. Once the committee submits its report, we will work out how to address the issue,” said an official. The panel has been asked to submit its report within a month.Corrective measures are already under way to ensure that multiple contractors are not simultaneously executing work on the same stretch, which often leads to confusion and blame-shifting, he added. Regular monitoring of highway stretches using advanced machines is also going on.Road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari had also said highway authorities shouldn’t collect user fee, if they couldn’t ensure good quality roads.In case of 100% public private partnership projects, such as BOT-Toll, the contract conditions lay down provisions for suspending toll collection, but this has scarcely been enforced to rein in errant players. In case of govt-funded highways, it’s easy to suspend or reduce tolling charges.
