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-   -   Now pay for a lil perk along with toll (Mumbai-Pune expressway) (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/26461-now-pay-lil-perk-along-toll-mumbai-pune-expressway.html)

I went to Pune today morning and while on the way back (from Pune) at 10amish, when we hit the first toll naka, we payed 120 bucks (the one way toll being 118).
We expected a ticket and 2 bucks back but surprise surprise : the guy at the counter handed over the ticket and a lil perk (worth Rs 2) to us. The reason he gave: the authorities have decided to do this instead of giving back Rs 2 in change everytime to the expressway users!

Are they right in doing this? And in the first case, why such a fig of 118? Why not 115 or 120? And is this legal (passing on a perk instead of a change of rs 2..)

I know Rs 2 isnt enough but this thing struck me and I thought of sharing it with you. Have you noticed the same thing?

Yup. Experienced this on my way back from Pune on Monday. Also similar experience at the toll just after the Khandala ghats on the road back from Kolhapur, except instead of a perk, they gave me 2 Eclairs.

Is it legal? I doubt it. I'm sure if you stop and refuse to take the chocolate, they will give you the Rs.2 instead.

Why is it Rs.118 and not 120? No answer. Would you feel better if you had to pay Rs.120 every time rather than accept the occasional chocolate sometimes?

Also, admit it, you had a smile on your face when they handed that over didn't you? I know I did.

Next time one should keep the perk and an eclair and give them Rs.115 + Perk + eclair... They will learn the lesson then. It is they who started these new currencies, so they have to accept them. LOL

Boys never grow up, do they? :p

hahaha!! I'd like to see their face when you do that.

There is a board posted on the toll naka that states something like "Shortage of coins; please produce exact change". So if you give exact change the problem is solved. Increasing the toll by Rs 2 or decreasing it by Rs 5 may seem trivial to us, because we do not use the Expressway that much. But if somebody is running a fleet of vehicles every day on the Expressway even that small amount might add up to something significant. Of course the loss/gain in revenue would matter a lot to the owners of the Expressway (is it privately owned now?).

Nice idea, I will do this for the fun part involved :D. I often make stupid jokes to make them smile, the most common being "is this toll receipt valid for my journey to Dubai"?

As per NHAI guidelines, toll on this expressway was levied on the basis of Rs 1 per km. Add to that periodical increases based on cost of living indices. That is how Rs 100 became Rs 118, linked to the inflation index. At least in the Bombay-Pune expressway, some rationale is followed. In the other MSRDC-controlled tollgates (such as the Bombay city tolls), there does not seem to be any basis for extorting money. The rates were increased from Rs 20 to 25 (for cars) one way, and the monthly rates from Rs 600 to Rs 830! There does not seem to be any inflation index linkage here!

I almost read that title as "Now pay for a lil peck along with toll". lol:

hahahaaa:uncontrol thats something i would like to see as well, i will keep this in my mind the next time i am going that way.

I did not know that. Thanks for that lil' tit bit of information.

So who amongst TBHP is paying for the next Expressway trip with a carton of Perk? Show of hands - sorry make that words -, please!

I would have gladly paid whatever they asked for a pe(c)rkrl:

depends on who that pecks from :D

How about handing out a Marlboro stick instead :D. That would be a pleasant surprise.