Hike in road toll charges effective from tonight: Report

New Delhi: The road toll charges across the country will see a 3-5% increase from tonight, after the plan regarding annual increase was put on hold in April due to the country’s general elections.

Toll charges in country are revised annually in line with inflation and highway operators put notices in local newspapers announcing hikes of 3% to 5% at nearly 1,100 toll plazas from midnight tonight.

“As the election process is over, the revision of user fee (toll) rates, which was put on hold during the elections, would become effective from June 3,” a senior official at the National Highways Authority of India, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The official said hikes in toll charges and taxation on fuel products help pay for the expansion of national highways, but opposition parties and many motorists criticise the annual rise in charges, saying they increase transport costs of essential commodities and burden commuters.

High operators like IRB Infrastructure Developers, opens new tab and Ashok Buildcon Ltd, opens new tab will benefit from the toll increases.

The Ministry concerned has invested billions of dollars over the last decade to expand the national highways, with a total length of about 146,000 kilometres, the second-largest global road network.

Toll collections jumped to more than 540 billion rupees ($6.5 billion) in the 2022/23 fiscal year from 252 billion in 2018/19, helped by a rise in road traffic as well as by increases in the number of toll plazas and charges.