The Election Commission of India (ECI) has instructed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to proceed with the annual calculation of new toll rates on highways, which typically come into effect on April 1 each year. However, the ECI has mandated that the implementation of the new rates be deferred until after the Lok Sabha elections.
News source PTI, reveals that the ECI’s directive to NHAI came in response to a communication from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The annual revision of toll rates, expected to see an average increase of 5 percent, was scheduled to take effect on April 1 across most tolled highways and expressway stretches nationwide.
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“The process required for the decision on the power tariff may be continued by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission. However, tariff award shall be made only on the completion of poll in the relevant state, i.e., after the poll date/dates in the state,” stated the ECI in its communication to the road ministry on April 1, 2024.
A senior NHAI official explained that the adjustment in toll rates is part of an annual procedure aimed at aligning the rates with changes in the wholesale price index-based inflation.
The Lok Sabha elections, spanning from April 19 to June 1, with vote counting on June 4, prompted the ECI’s decision to delay the implementation of the revised toll rates. There are approximately 855 user fee plazas on the national highway network, with tolls collected according to the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008.
Meanwhile, the National Highways Builders Federation (NHBF), representing highway developers, expressed concern over NHAI’s verbal instructions to concessionaires to refrain from publishing revised toll rates in local newspapers and implementing toll rate revisions effective April 1.
