The DND flyway that connects Delhi and Noida will remain toll free for commuters, with the Supreme Court on Friday refusing to stay the Allahabad High Court verdict restraining the Noida Toll Bridge Company Ltd. (NTBCL) from levying cess.
A bench of Justices J S Khehar and L Nageswara Rao asked the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to verify the cost of the DND flyway project and submit a report to the court.
“We have requested the CAG to verify the cost of the project...” the bench said, adding, “We refuse to grant any relief.”
On October 28, The apex court refused to interfere with the High Court order restraining the company, saying it will pass directions after Diwali vacations.
On the toll collecting firm’s plea for an interim stay on the order, the apex court bench, headed by the Chief Justice had said, “You have only ten km of highway and you claim that > you have made a road to the moon. ... You have done well but not something [great].”
The firm had said the High Court did not take into account all aspects and submitted that factors like interest on construction cost, depreciation and maintenance expenses, which come to around Rs 12.5 lakh a day, were not duly considered.
The High Court, on October 26, brought cheers to millions of commuters, ruling that no toll will be collected henceforth from those using the 9.2 km-long, eight-lane flyway. The order was passed as the court allowed a PIL by the Federation of Noida Residents’ Welfare Association.
The PIL, filed in 2012, challenged the “levy and collection of toll in the name of user fee” by the NTBCL.
In an over 100-page judgment, the High Court held “the user fee, which is being levied/realised, is not supported by the legal provisions relied upon by the Concessionaire [Noida Toll Bridge Company], Infrastructure Leaning and Financial Services [promoter and developer of the project] and Noida Authority.”
‘Right to levy contrary to law’
The court said that the “right to levy and collect user fee from the commuters as conferred upon the concessionaire under the concession agreement suffers from excessive delegation and is contrary to the provisions UP Industrial Development Act“.
It noted:
“The concessionaire, according to their own financial statements, has recovered Rs 810.18 crore [approx] from toll income from the date of commencement of the project till March 31, 2014 and after deduction of operation and maintenance expenses and corporate income tax, the surplus was Rs 578.80 crore [computed before interest, depreciation, and lease rental received by the Concessionaire]”.
“They have further realised user fee/toll two-and-a-half years thereafter between April 1, 2014 and September 30, 2016 which, as per the collection of user fee in the year 2013-14 would work out to an additional sum of Rs 300 crore (approx).
“We are, therefore, more than satisfied that the concessionaire cannot now recover the user fees from the users /commuters of the Noida Toll Bridge the DND flyover.”
