Toll collection on National Highway 66 from the second week of this month has had a telling effect on the common man as bus operators, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation as well as private, have passed on the burden to commuters.
KSRTC, which operates inter-State services to Kasargod and other parts of Kerala, has increased fares by ₹ 3 towards Kerala. The fare to Kasargod now stands at ₹ 51, including ₹ 2 toll fee at the Talapady plaza and ₹ 1 as Kerala’s inter-State service fee, according to Vivekanand Hegde, Divisional Controller of KSRTC, Mangaluru. On the other hand, fares between Mangaluru and Kundapur have gone up at least by ₹ 9 for Express services and up to ₹ 15 for Airavat Club Class (Multi-axle) services of the transport corporation. The hike includes toll fee to be paid at two toll plazas, Hejmady and Gundmi.
KSRTC fares between Mangaluru and Udupi have increased by a minimum of ₹ 4 for Express services and a maximum of ₹ 7 for multi-axle services.
The fare from State Bank (Mangaluru) to Manipal has gone up by ₹ 6, from ₹ 106 to ₹ 112 that includes ₹ 6 toll fee at the Hejmady plaza.
Mr. Hegde said that the corporation has no alternative but to pass the burden of toll hike onto commuters.
Private operators too have decided to add toll fee to tickets at the rate of ₹ 3 for crossing one toll plaza only for those passengers whose travel involves crossing the toll plaza.
A private operator said that he would have to pay about ₹ 500 toll for a round trip, Mangaluru-Kundapur-Mangaluru, at the two newly commissioned toll plazas at Hejmady and Gundmi and the existing one at NITK, Surathkal. The average collection would be ₹ 10,000 per such round trip and the operator would be left with little margin, he rued.
