Toll rates in 21 plazas across the State on nine National Highways will be revised from Friday.
“The increase is not much this year. For one-way it is only three per cent at the most. The rates have been rounded off. In most cases the rates remain the same,” said V. Chinna Reddy, Chief General Manager (Technical), National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
The NHAI, through concessionaires and by itself, manages a total of 43 plazas in the State covering 2,298.215 km of road length. In January, 2.37 crore vehicles crossed the plazas and the fee collected was Rs. 195.34 crore.
The rates for the annual revision are calculated on the basis of wholesale price index (WPI). It is 40 per cent of the increase or decrease in the WPI to which a mandatory three per cent increase is added.
The cost of structures including bridges, culverts and drains are added to the fee.
The rates for the remaining plazas will be revised in September using a different calculation – the number of kilometres of the road multiplied by wholesale price index.
The NHAI usually upgrades select roads and collects toll towards the cost of improvement and maintenance. Recently, seven State highway roads were chosen to be handed over to the authority for conversion into national highways.
Various organisations have been protesting the operation of toll plazas in the State. The government has also been objecting to the annual revision of rates.
The Tamil Nadu Sand Lorry Owners Association has written to the State government asking it to take over toll collection and reduce the fee.
Association president R. Munirathinam said heavy vehicle owners had to pay a hefty sum as fee, which led to an increase in transportation cost.
“We pay Rs. 7,200 for a round trip between Bangalore and Chennai for a three-axle vehicle. The Central government has decontrolled diesel prices leading to constant fluctuations. Now, this revision will not affect car owners but will have an impact on heavy vehicles,” he said.
