Toll Collection Resumes On National Highways

New Delhi: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) resumed collecting toll on Monday.

Toll collection is one of the restrictions lifted as part of Lockdown 2.0 from April 20. Essential industries and commercial operations have also started in select areas.

“It has been further highlighted that user fee collection contributes to the government exchequer and also provides financial strength to NHAI in terms of budgetary support,” the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said in a letter to NHAI.

“In view of the relaxations provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs for the inter-state and intra-state movement of all trucks and other goods or carrier vehicles and further the relaxations… NHAI should take actions necessary for compliance of the orders.. and ‘tolling operations be resumed w.e.f. 20 of April 2020’,” it added.

Meanwhile, transport associations have asked the government to reconsider the decision citing that the entire transport industry is currently “financially broke”. Toll charges account for 20 per cent of transport costs, the All India Motor Transport Congress said.