CM Eknath Shinde’s Rs 920-crore pre-poll bonanza for motorists: Toll-free travel

With an eye on the upcoming Assembly elections the Mahayutiled state government has officially exempted light motor vehicles LMVs along with school and state transport buses from paying toll at Mumbairsquos five entry and exit points These are located at Vashi Airoli Mulund LBS Road Anand Nagar Eastern Express Highway and Dahisar The government claimed that this decision would benefit around 28 lakh carLMV owners who are entering or exiting the city As per official data from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation MSRDC for August 2024 an average of 206 lakh light vehicles passed through the five toll plazas dailyEntry into and exit from Mumbai will be tollfree for light motor vehicles starting today PicNimesh DaveCurrently the LMVs pay Rs 45 and Rs 75 depending on their respective categories for oneway travel at the five toll plazas The tax is collected to maintain the citys flyovers for the past 14 years While the state cabinet completely waived off the toll for light motor vehicles LMVs including private and commercial ones such as cars vans and mini trucksschoolST buses the data for August 2024 from MSRDC stated that 6193 lakh vehicles passed through all five toll plazas in Mumbai on a monthly basis which means on an average 206 lakh vehicles pass daily As per the figure the toll operator will incur a loss to the tune of Rs 126 crore per day Rs 378 crore monthly and around Rs 460 crore per yearThe government will compensate MSRDC for the exemption A committee led by the chief secretary will decide the compensation amount The agreement with the current collection agency Mumbai Entry Points Limited MEPL will exist till November 2026 and after that stateowned MSRDC will collect the tax for the period till September 2027Minister of Public Works and head of MSRDC Dada Bhuse said ldquoAround 350 lakh vehicles use the entryexit daily Of these 70000 are heavy vehicles while the rest are LMVs 28 lakh The waiver will save commuters time and money The government had the idea on its agenda for many months and a decision in this regard was taken on Mondayrdquo The minister did not have the data on school and state transport buses that use the entry pointsMasterstroke CMCommenting on the decision Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that motorists arriving at the Mumbai entry points from all over Maharashtra faced traffic jams at the toll plazas ldquoPeople had been demanding toll exemption Some moved the court With our decision the commute time will be saved pollution will be reduced and traffic jams eased It will also save the motorists fuel costrdquo he said calling it a historic decision and masterstroke He said the decision was not just for the elections but a permanent oneBetter late than never RajMaharashtra Navnirman Sena MNS president Raj Thackeray whose party has waged many street battles against successive governments for tollfree roads and succeeded to some extent congratulated his party workers the commuters and the government But he questioned whether the toll exemption was given just for gains in the election or if it would be permanentldquoCongratulations to all the citizens living within the MMR area and big congratulations to my Maharashtra Sainiks They fought hard for the demands that there be transparency in toll transactions and that if the road works are paid for through the money collected they should be tollfree We were criticised for vandalising the toll booths but whatever the government mechanism they donrsquot acknowledge the seriousness of an issue unless extreme steps are takenrdquo Thackeray said on X ldquoAnywayhellip at least Mumbaikars got tollfree roads and our struggle bore fruit It is a matter of happiness that our agitation was quite successful I would want to congratulate the state government for this but they should assure the people that this is not a decision taken just for the electionrdquo he addedHe said Mumbai has become tollfree but not before many people staked their fortunes through this game ldquoThey must all be investigated But I am not so sure if that will ever happen because nobody knows who all have their interests tangled in it At least Mumbaikars got freed from the burden of toll and thatrsquos reason to be happyrdquo the MNS chief statedHis message for his partys rank and file said ldquoFrom now on whenever someone asks what happened to your toll agitations proudly quote the Mumbai example and say that once we pick up a cause we see it to the bitter end And that we donrsquot rest until wersquove reached our objectivesrdquoWhy only Mumbai Bhiwandi MLARais Shaikh Samajwadi Party legislator from Bhiwandi East demanded a complete toll waiver for LMVs across the state He said the toll waiver for Mumbai entry points would amount to discrimination against citizens in the rest of the state ldquoThe five main roads of Mumbai entry point are never repaired by the toll companies in time However to date vehicles had to pay toll on all these five routes This is looting of the people I have written multiple letters to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on the roads not being repaired despite toll collection and demanding a waiverrdquo Shaikh saidShaikh further stated that there are toll collection companies everywhere in the state bypassing the laws ldquoConsider the example of Nashik Highway where the toll company does not repair the highway but collects toll at Padgha It is looting This is going on in many districts of the staterdquo he said adding that the Union government issued a circular in 2013 that information about toll collection be provided on the website ldquoHowever all the toll companies and states have thrown this order in the dustbin Hundreds of toll plazas are still running despite recovering the cost of the road If the government keeps a strict watch on the toll companies 50 per cent of the toll plazas in the state will be closedrdquo said ShaikhPrivate firm profited ActivistBased on the data submitted to his queries under the Right to Information Act Mumbaibased activist Anil Galgali alleged that the private toll operating company was given an opportunity to earn huge profits ldquoThere are many flyovers which were constructed prior to the year 2000 at the cost of the state exchequer for which toll is being collected Private entities like MEP Infrastructure are being given opportunities to earn huge profits which is very surprisingrdquo Galgali said in a press releaseToll waiver FAQsgtgt What types of vehicles does the waiver apply toLight motor vehicles passenger carsSUVs school buses and buses of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation MSRTCgtgt Does the waiver apply to eligible vehicles enteringexiting the cityYes it applies to vehicles plying both waysgtgt Will toll gates be shut and removed completelyNo The toll gates will not be shut as toll charges will be applicable for light commercial vehicles LCVs trucks buses private and multiaxle vehicles MAVsgtgt What about eligible vehicles displaying FASTagsNo clarity has been given by authorities on the motorists who have prepaid for a FASTag monthly pass MSRDC officials told midday that a decision regarding the same will be taken at the earliestgtgt What about lane management Will eligible vehicles be identified manuallyThere are dedicated lanes for LMVs and separate ones for heavy vehicles trucks buses and MAVs Those lanes meant for LMVs at the majority of five toll plazas are narrower than those meant for heavy vehicles Hence there wonrsquot be issues with lane management The lanes meant for heavy vehicles are on the extreme left At places where there are chances of heavy vehicles getting into the wrong lane attendants at the toll plaza will manually scan and collect tollConfusion at toll plazaOn Monday evening middayrsquos photojournalist Nimesh Dave visited the Dahisar Toll Naka on the Western Express Highway ldquoI arrived at the Dahisar toll plaza around 730 pm and asked about the governmentrsquos decision regarding toll waiver for cars and SUVs post midnight The staff member there told me there was some confusion and that toll would still be charged for cars and SUVs entering Mumbai while the exemption applied only to those leaving the cityrdquo Dave reported When Dave inquired whether the FASTag scanner would be disabled postmidnight the staff member explained that they couldnrsquot turn off the FASTag scanner as other vehicles like buses trucks and MAVs also use FASTags It is still unclear whether the toll operator will refund the monthly pass fees that many car owners have already paid for