[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Something more good to cheer about for the people owning vehicles in Thane and Navi Mumbai areas. Closely on the heel of the recent announcement of toll exemption for private vehicles at 53 tolls, Maharashtra state government is on the verge of abolishing the Thane, Airoli & vashi tolls. Which means that MH04, MH43 & MH46 vehicles will be exempted from paying tolls at these points or at any Mumbai Entry points. This is in line with the govt's poll promise of making the state toll free. The proposal if passed will be in effect from 1st August 2015.

Since the decision on the above was to be made by 31st July, the state government quietly issued a small news saying that the decision has been postponed by another 3 months. Which means monthly toll pass has to be bought for another 3 months. Hope the govt comes up with some decision or else this cycle will keep repeating.

[vinit]

There is no point giving the toll exemption to Mumbai registered cars. It is actually required for MH 04, 05, 06, 43 and 46 as they travel to Mumbai on daily basis.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by vinit

There is no point giving the toll exemption to Mumbai registered cars. It is actually required for MH 04, 05, 06, 43 and 46 as they travel to Mumbai on daily basis.

What about when Mumbai registered cars travel to Navi Mumbai or Thane for work, even they should be exempted isn't it? Also the earlier decision was only for MH04, 43 and 46 registered cars but then the recent discussions apply to all vehicles crossing the 5 MEPL tolls where LMV's will be exempted from paying tolls as done with other MSRDC and PWD tolls.

[vinit]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

What about when Mumbai registered cars travel to Navi Mumbai or Thane for work, even they should be exempted isn't it? Also the earlier decision was only for MH04, 43 and 46 registered cars but then the recent discussions apply to all vehicles crossing the 5 MEPL tolls where LMV's will be exempted from paying tolls as done with other MSRDC and PWD tolls.

If you see the proportion of Mumbai outbound cars to Mumbai Inbound cars, it is heavily tilted to the later. However, as per the latest update, the government is thinking over exempting all LMVs. So good for everyone

[@Chaand]

Weekend of 25th July, I managed to cross the Vashi Toll Plaza in a MH04 car without paying toll. When i did the same last weekend i.e 2nd August, they were adamant that I pay toll. I would be exempt if I had a Vashi address proof. Wonder what happened in between.

At the Kamothe toll plaza it was comical. They were expecting that I pay toll. They made a feeble attempt to stop me. I had to roll down the window and remind them about the exemption for private cars.

The Government needs to do something quick. They have bought more time as I understand but hope that this works in the personal car owners favour.

[Amazing]

what about the Pune registered cars MH14 / MH 12 ? Will we be ever exempted for paying tolls in these booths eg Teen Haath Naka Toll both, te Sion Panvel e way toll booth near Vashi Creek , then the toll booth between Airoli and Thane .

We are always stopped for toll whereas most Mumbai cars go w/o paying.

Just need a clarity from you all who are regular users of these booths.

PS: I go to Mumbai atleast 3 days in a week and travel to Andheri(W), Thane, Vashi all in one day and come back to Pune. Paying a huge amount in Tolls in every trip :-(

[1lokesh]

I have been cursing this issue of Mumbai entry toll from the day I shifted to suburbs from Navi Mumbai. My office being in Ghansoli, I have to pass these twice a day and believe me it is a big pain. When ETC tags were introduced, I thought it will become better - but instead it was worse. ETC tag lanes are on the extreme right of each carriageway, and people haven't yet got the drift that they will not be allowed in that lane unless they have the tag. Everyday, a lot of people try to reason out with the toll attendant stationed at the entry of the lane to let them through, thus resulting in a long queue behind them. I am tempted to call them names, but will resist.

However, I realised that there is no point in cribbing unless I did something, even if it is a petty and small step. So, since about last 10 days (29-Jul, to be precise), I have started tweeting to the CM of Maharashtra pics of the clogged toll plaza at Airoli. I aim to do it every day with hashtags #RemoveMumbaiTolls and #Mumbai (screenshots below) with exceptions of weekends and evenings when I'm late enough to find no jams. I am not sure if CM looks into these tweets, but there is no harm in trying. May be people suffering here can join me in this effort. Click the picture when you are stuck in the jam leading upto the toll, and post it later to @Dev_Fadnavis on twitter with your message, toll plaza name, #RemoveMumbaiTolls and #Mumbai. May be we will get his attention and he can fast track the removal of tolls.

[arnabchak]

Crossed the Thane(Mulund EW) toll both ways without paying the toll.

Just indicated them with my fingers to look towards my MH04 registration no.
Don't know if this is sustainable or not though.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by arnabchak

Crossed the Thane(Mulund EW) toll both ways without paying the toll.

Just indicated them with my fingers to look towards my MH04 registration no.
Don't know if this is sustainable or not though.

Lucky man. I am sure the toll booth guys must have wrongly assumed your finger gesture. Do you by any chance keep the monthly toll pass on the dashboard? if so they must have assumed you had a monthly pass and let without checking.

I generally do gesture them about the monthly pass and they let me pass. But these days I prefer to stay in the last couple of toll lanes. Dont even want to get in the first couple of lanes because of the additional toll booths ahead towards Thane. I remember the good old days when the first toll lane was for the Monthly pass holder and used to zip across the lane. But then the whole concept of monthly pass lane got diluted.

[paragsachania]

Here is an interesting article that appeared in ToI Pune today:

COST FACTOR - MSRDC makes Rs 7.6cr from toll in 15 years
Samrat Phadnis
Kolhapur:


No Data On Collections Made By Pvt Firms
In the last 15 years, citizens have shelled out Rs 7,642 crore as toll for roads across the state.
In a first-ever disclosure on toll earnings, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has put up an exhaustive list of projects and toll collections since the policy was implemented in 1999.

The top grosser projects include the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and Satara-Kolhapur stretch of National Highway 4 that have collectively added Rs 1,122 crore to the MSRDC coffers till 2005-06. There is no data on toll collections for the last decade as the e-way maintenance was handed over to a private firm. Another big-ticket project is the Bandra-Worli sea link that has within six years of becoming operational earned MSRDC a neat Rs 425 crore. The project was constructed at a cost of around Rs 650 crore.

However, it is road overbridges and flyovers that have earned MSRDC a whopping revenue of Rs 3,169 crore until 2010-11, when the levy was stopped at these locations. There are 128 toll booths currently functional across the state.

While activists may see in these figures the perfect reason to stop toll collections, officials at MSRDC said an investment of Rs 8,000 crore has been made in creating road networks over the years. Analysts too advised against simplistic interpretation of the figures.

G K Deshpande, former PWD secretary and founder of MSRDC in 1996-97, said, “If the investor is expecting 20% of return over his investment, the toll would continue till that amount is achieved. It is wrong to state that if the project cost is recovered, toll should be abolished. Investors or MSRDC take loan from banks, pay interest, maintain the road and conduct repairs regularly .“

He said that the project cost gives only the figure when the road work was planned and the cost might escalate due to increase in cost of raw material.

But the calculation aside, there is much ambiguity in the statistics. Experts and activists have questioned the toll collection statistics considering that MSRDC has not disclosed the amount collected by private agencies. Importantly , the MSRDC has not stated how the toll collection amount was utilized and the infrastructure jointly created with the private firms, they said.

The MSRDC, on its part, has claimed that it raised infrastructure such as flyovers, road over bridges and roads built at a cost of nearly Rs 8,000 crore since its formation in 1996 but admits it does not have the information about the use of toll collection amount.

“At this moment, figures of expenditures and maintenance cost are not available. The MSRDC assigns private companies for the road development work. There are several such companies and we do not have the data of their toll collection,“ said Radheshyam Mopalwar, MSRDC managing director.

Over the past few years, citi zens and political parties have been seeking transparency in toll collection across the state.

Kolhapur residents have vehe mently opposed toll collection at nine entry points in the city citing poor quality work.

The political angle to the toll collection figures is hard to miss. When the Congress-NCP government formed the government for the second successive time in 2009, it collected an upfront amount from road developer compa nies and appointed them for toll collection and mainte nance. The following fiscal of 2010-11 turned out to be the most `fruitful' for MSRDC, which earned Rs 2,503 crore at one go with the decision.

Road development experts said that the toll collection amount should not be simply compared with the project cost as developers would not come forward to execute the work unless there is a proper return on the investment.

Former PWD secretary Deshpande said that each private firm would have submitted their cash flow to the MSRDC or PWD to get the contract. A detailed study of the cash flow could shed light on how much investment was made and how long the toll would be levied.

Realising the anger against toll collection, the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance had promised to scrap toll collection during the 2014 assembly election campaign. The state government in November 2014 appointed a committee under PWD minister Eknath Shinde to study the contentious toll issue and suggest ways to scrap the levy .

So far, as per the committee's recommendations, the state has waived off toll from 12 roads and exempted small cars from toll at 53 locations from June 1. In June 2014, the government closed 44 toll collection centres.

Anti-toll activist Sanjay Shirodkar said they had been struggling for years to get the data on toll collection. “Successive governments and the MSRDC were not clear about toll collection. No private toll operator provided the MSRDC or the government with toll collection figures. The MSRDC has not provided any audited report of the projects“ he said.

To access the actual article, click this link

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Here is an interesting article that appeared in ToI Pune today:

Coincidentally there was a discussion y'day on Marathi news channel ABP Majha regarding the same where they have uncovered a scam related to Pune E-way where it seems the toll operation IRB has misquoted the total no of vehicles passing the Pune E-way toll booths. Based on these figures it seems the toll operator is accused of wrong representation of facts which was leading to increase in the toll collection years. There has been an outcry in this regards and it is waited to be seen what the actual facts are.

[reverse_gear]

Another big-ticket project is the Bandra-Worli sea link that has within six years of becoming operational earned MSRDC a neat Rs 425 crore. The project was constructed at a cost of around Rs 650 crore.

Project cost of Bandra Worli sea link ended up at Rs.1,650 cr after the delays and escalations.

However, it is road overbridges and flyovers that have earned MSRDC a whopping revenue of Rs 3,169 crore until 2010-11, when the levy was stopped at these locations.

This should be the Mumbai entry points. Levy has not been stopped here, it's just that since 2010, the toll collection has been handed over to the private company MEP Infra. Why can't MSRDC provide statistics and toll collection by MEP Infra at these locations?

[S_U_N]

In the month of August and September, I had traveled to Thane and Wada from Pune.

For my Thane trip, I paid only expressway toll. There was free movement in some of the lanes at the Kharghar-Kamothe toll plaza. I just followed the others.
At Ghodbunder road, again, they did not even try to stop me. I am using an MH14 number plate

For my Wada trip, in addition to the above I paid Rs. 65 toll which comes on the National Highway somewhere in the outskirts of Mumbai.
The Wada toll is also not enforced. You can just get through a free lane.

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by 1lokesh

I have been cursing this issue of Mumbai entry toll from the day I shifted to suburbs from Navi Mumbai....

There has been post related to this in DNA.

http://www.iamin.in/en/thane/news/gh...s-mumbai-84134

I sincerely hope they close down this stupid toll collection at all Mumbai entry points.

[samdarshi.pali]

Few month ago, I’ve shifted to Taloja, Navi Mumbai. There is a Toll Plaza by contractor IRB on NH-4 just after Taloja towards Thane. Last month, one toll operator informed me that local residents are exempted from paying tolls. I only need to show some address proof that I’m a local resident. I’ve my Aadhar card that has Taloja address. I was able to travel for last one month and no-one stop me at Taloja Toll Plaza. Maximum sometimes toll attendant simply demand to see address proof only. Today, 27th Feb 17, toll attendant for my lane was adamant that I pay the toll. I explained that I’m a local resident but he was adamant and vehicles behind me pile up I was forced to pay the toll.
Now I’m totally confused
1. What is exactly local toll exemption? I was crossing that Toll Plaza for almost one month without paying any toll and just displaying local address proof. This was suggested to me by a Poll attendant.
2. I try to search for information on the Internet for local resident exemption but did not found any authentic details.
3. Are anyone aware of rules applicable for such exemption? Where and how we can find this information.