A new tax in town?

Delhi government is contemplating imposition of congestion charges on vehicles registered elsewhere entering the Capital, to ease traffic woes

Bad news for NCR residents who drive to the Capital on a regular basis; Delhi government is likely to impose congestion charges on vehicles registered in other states that enter the Capital. If implemented, Delhi will be the first city in the country to go for such a drastic step to reduce traffic problems.



The Delhi High Court appointed Special Task Force (STF), headed by former Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta, has reportedly recommended before the court that apart from other measures, the city government should go in for congestion pricing - a solution that has been debated for long.u00a0 Everyday, around 11 lakh outside vehicles enter the Capital. Apart from those which use the city as a long distance transit point, majority of the vehicles are of those who either work in Delhi or in some other National Capital Region (NCR) town and use Delhi as a short-term transit point.

Sources in the transport department said, the government is mulling making some changes in the Delhi Motor Vehicle Rules to usher in the new system. "However, first the plan is likely to be discussed in various forums other than the state cabinet," said a senior transport department official.

Over the years, lakhs of people have settled in NCR towns and have also registered their automobiles there as taxes in Delhi are higher. Officials in transport department say, even those who live in Delhi, are trying to avoid paying the higher charges. "So, the initiatives being taken in Delhi to reduce congestion are taking a beating," added the official.u00a0

Sources said, mainly two models are being deliberated upon right now: levying congestion charges in central business district or other congested areas and levying charges on vehicles from other states entering the Capital. "The government is likely to go ahead with the model of levying charges on vehicles entering the city as the other one is not feasible, considering the large number of vehicles in the city," a senior official said.

Transport Commissioner R K Verma said: "There is congestion and we are looking at various ways to reduce it." When asked whether government will impose congestion charges or not he said, "It is being studied now."
In its report, the STF has also said that once the western periphery expressway also known as Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway (KMP) is ready, those vehicles which just use the city as transit point will not enter at all. So, those who enter the city for day-to-day work will be the only ones to be taxed.

"So far, Government of India was silent on the issue. But now, it is also forcing that traffic problems should be minimised. Now, we have a Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) in place. So, going for such a step is welcome. But before doing that the government should take people into confidence and have detailed studies," said PK Sarkar, a transport expert with School of Planning and Architecture (SPA). When asked which model the government should adopt, he said, "It should be studied. But congestion pricing is one of the mechanisms to reduce traffic chaos."

How other counteries do it
Singapore
Singapore implemented the world's first congestion pricing scheme in 1975. It was implemented through manual police control around the Central business district (CBD). In September 1998 the system was upgraded with ETC technology, 100 per cent free-flow. Various deterrents have resulted As a result, and despite having one of the highest per capita incomes in Asia, less than 30% of Singaporean households own cars.
Sweden
Stockholm in Sweden has a congestion pricing system, Stockholm congestion tax, in use on a permanent basis since August 1, 2007, after having had a seven-month trial period from January 3 to July 31, 2006. The City Centre is within the congestion tax zone. All the entrances and exits of this area have unmanned control points operating with automatic number plate recognition. All vehicles entering or exiting the congestion tax affected area, with a few exceptions, have to pay 1.49-2.98 USD depending on the time of day between 06:30 am and 6:29 pm.
United Kingdom
Durham became the first city in the UK to have a permanent congestion charge in 2002. Until 2007 the congestion charge applied to drivers within the highlighted area. UK governments have periodically considered the possibility of using road pricing since the early 1960s. London has had a congestion charge in the central area since 2003. Administered by Transport for London the charge was initially set at ufffd5, from 17 February 2003, and then raised to ufffd8 on 4 July 2005.

Go figure
'u00a0Even as the national average figure is eight private cars per 1,000 population, in Delhi the number is 85.
' Delhi and NCR lose nearly 42 crore (420 million) man-hours every month while commuting between home and office through public transport, due to the traffic congestion.
' During the past decade the city has added 3,500 km of road length, but the number of vehicles has increased from 33.7 lakh in 2000- 01 to 68 lakh in 2010-11.
' A total of 1087 vehicles are registered every day In Delhi, of which 1021 are personal vehicles. Nearly 3, 65,000 vehicles are registered annually.
' Around 45 million sq m of land is needed for parking of already registered vehicles in the Capital
' Traffic congestion in Delhi causes an overall loss of Rs 840 crore per month