Legal status of tolls around Pune

[Sawyer]

Can any other Pune people shed some light on this subject. I had been told that the first tolls heading out of Pune, including the one to Mulshi are not allowed to collect toll from locally registered cars. To do this, one has to point this out each time - else they will be happy to collect. On this advice, I was able to not pay a number of times, but the last time I drove to Satara, I was not allowed to pass. The man in charge of the place flatly denied that any such provision existed, and claimed to have been in charge all the times I, and other local cars had driven through.
I do not mind paying a legally chargeable toll, but I do not like to be subject to anyone's whim.
Do any Pune people know what the exact status is? And if there is any exemption to local cars, is it in writing or enforceable in any way?
I don't know if there are similar situations elsewhere.

[moralfibre]

Sawyer, can you tell me who the authority for this toll booth is? Is it IRB? We can go the RTI way and get it in writing.

[neoonwheels]

Wow, just paid 27/- round trip toll to the first toll booth (near chandani chawk) while going to Lavasa through Bhugaon-Pirangut.

Can I skip this as mine is Pune registered car?

[DieHarder]

Originally Posted by neoonwheels

Wow, just paid 27/- round trip toll to the first toll booth (near chandani chawk) while going to Lavasa through Bhugaon-Pirangut.

Can I skip this as mine is Pune registered car?

Legally, the toll on the road towards pirangut is NOT legal. problem is that the guys at the toll are supported by the local goons and corporator (Interesting fact: Goon and Corporator should be synonyms)

Well, i still drive past that one each time without paying IF i am alone in the car as i have to create a ruckus each time questioning their validity.

But i have paid up when i am with my family.

As for the toll booths on Pune-Satara NH4, only 2 are functional now (Khandala toll booth has ceased to work . They actually overcharged for 3 months beyond the deadline and nobody objected )

The remaining two are legal and monitored by IRB. They too have goons to monitor the booths and will not budge if you fight. So we need to pay up unless some guy comes up and files an RTI or a case against them in teh courts

[Bouncer]

Originally Posted by neoonwheels

....Can I skip this as mine is Pune registered car?

I guess 'locally registered' means cars from local surroundings / close proximity to the toll booth. Or that is the immpression I and many other I know carry. It is confusing. Good that Sawyer came up with the subject.

[Sawyer]

To clarify what I was told - MH 12 and MH 14 cars are exempt from three toll - the first ones out of the city in the direction of Satara, Paud and Mumbai on the old road. The theory is that you flash your headlights and drive past. Theory worked fine till a couple of weeks ago! Thing is, sitting in a car, with a line building up behind you, there is a limit to which one can be stubborn for these sums.
Am waiting to see if anyone here has better insight into the situation, or how to go about getting it.

[idea1979]

Thats a Valid point and good you raised it. Looking forward to get info from this thread.

[moralfibre]

I am still not sure if its an IRB or an MSRDC project. I don't see that toll booth listed on the MSRDC site:

Toll Rates

and neither on the IRB site:

BOT - Operational - IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd. | Roads | Bridges | Tunnels | Toll Plaza | Realty Business

[CarsPG]

I think the toll booths belong to MSRDC because the toll I pay at the talegaon toll naka is reduced from the expressway toll.

[idea1979]

Originally Posted by neoonwheels

Wow, just paid 27/- round trip toll to the first toll booth (near chandani chawk) while going to Lavasa through Bhugaon-Pirangut.

Can I skip this as mine is Pune registered car?

Originally Posted by Sawyer

To clarify what I was told - MH 12 and MH 14 cars are exempt from three toll - the first ones out of the city in the direction of Satara, Paud and Mumbai on the old road. The theory is that you flash your headlights and drive past. Theory worked fine till a couple of weeks ago! Thing is, sitting in a car, with a line building up behind you, there is a limit to which one can be stubborn for these sums.
Am waiting to see if anyone here has better insight into the situation, or how to go about getting it.

There seems to be no development in this thread. However it is concern for most of us from pune.

So basic question is Does Pune passing MH 12 Vehicles have Waiver/Exemption for these tolls? Any idea/ piece of info?

There is toll just at entrance of Satara city (when you are going from pune to satara), where in local satara passing cars need not have to pay up (you might have to produce address proof).

Can somebody lead to authentic information?

[Abhay]

The toll booth just before Satara is quite irritating if you are heading into Satara as you pay up till the booth near Karad for no good reason.

As for the C-C/Paud road toll, there was some informal waiver to all residents of the locality, after some ruckus and agitation (especially the people who stayed at Athashree housing society as they would have had to pay toll each day to go out from their houses!). This is what I remember reading from newspapers in the past. Do not quote me on it. ;-)

I am not aware of MH-12 cars in general being exempt at Kapurhol/Welhe toll on NH4 or the Talegaon toll on pune-Mum NH4.

[pats]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

To clarify what I was told - MH 12 and MH 14 cars are exempt from three toll - the first ones out of the city in the direction of Satara, Paud and Mumbai on the old road. The theory is that you flash your headlights and drive past. Theory worked fine till a couple of weeks ago! Thing is, sitting in a car, with a line building up behind you, there is a limit to which one can be stubborn for these sums.
Am waiting to see if anyone here has better insight into the situation, or how to go about getting it.

Even i have faced a similar situation. About a year back, once while driving from Talegaon to Pune at the Toll road on old Mumbai-Pune highway at Somatne i just casually asked the toll guy that since my car was Pune registered (MH-14) then there should be no toll. I was allowed to pass that time without paying the toll.However the same day on the return journey back to Talegaon i had to pay the toll and a different person informed me that there is no provision for any exemption.

I remember that once when the Somatne toll on old highways had started functioning about 2 years back there were lot of demonstrations since many local people from Talegaon/Somatne/Dehu travel to Pune on daily basis and it was affecting them badly for having to pay the toll everytime.

I am not sure about the current legal status on the same.

[MX6]

Interesting. I'm eager to know too about the provisions.

[Samir Taheer]

Interesting thread. Because we have a house in Mulshi, we have to go thru the Toll at Chandi Chowk regularly. But i have heard it is actually an illegal collection. The rumour is the Toll was set-up by a corporator that did the Tarmac for the Lavasa Road. I've had a few arguments at that toll booth and sometimes they give in, sometimes they don't. They tend to let cars they recognise thru.

[idea1979]

@all,

Thanks for all info. However any idea where to get some concrete details on this?