Maharashtra scraps toll for light vehicles at 80 plazas

Operators to be paid Rs 405 crore annually against the waiver. Also, four-wheeler owners who use the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and Mumbai Entry/Exit Points (MEP) will continue to pay toll

Four-wheeler owners who use the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and Mumbai Entry/Exit Points (MEP) will continue to pay toll even as the state government has decided to scrap the toll for light motor vehicles and state transport buses at 80 other toll plazas across the state.

While Light Motor Vehicles (LMV) now don’t have to pay the toll at Kharghar plaza, motorists travelling via Mumbai-Pune Expressway will get no such relief. File pics

The state cabinet took this decision on Thursday evening. Maharashtra will reimburse the toll operators Rs 405 crore every year against the waiver. The government will declare the decision on the last day of the Budget Session on Friday.

According to officials, the waiver was not possible at the Expressway and MEPs because 90 per cent of total vehicles passing through these plazas were four-wheelers, whereas 35 per cent small vehicles used the other 80 tolls.

MEP has plazas at Dahisar, Mulund (2), Airoli and Vashi. The waiver, if it had been approved for the Expressway and MEPs, would have cost the state a whopping Rs 4,000 crore per year, said the officials.

However, the Kharghar plaza, which started operating recently despite public outcry, will also offer waiver to small vehicles. The decision will not increase toll duty for heavy vehicles and not extend the concession period for toll collection.

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