Toll Fees on National Highways to Continue, No Audit Required: Government
Toll Fees on National Highways to Continue, No Audit Required: Government
The Indian government has no plans to audit toll plazas or reduce toll charges on national highways, even if the collected amount exceeds the initial investment. This was confirmed in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday when Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, responded to a query by DMK MP P. Wilson.
Wilson had questioned whether the government would conduct an audit of toll plazas to compare investment versus revenue and if it planned to shut down toll booths where costs had already been recovered.
In his response, Gadkari made it clear that toll collection on national highways would continue indefinitely. He stated, “The user fee at toll plazas on National Highways will be collected indefinitely. Therefore, there is no need for an audit of investments and revenue, nor for reducing or closing toll plazas.”
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways clarified that these charges are categorized as “user fees” rather than traditional tolls. These fees are collected as per the National Highway Fee Rules, 2008, and are applicable throughout the concession period. Once this period ends, the government or its designated authority takes over toll collection. The user fee is also revised annually.
Gadkari further explained that for public-funded infrastructure like highways, bridges, and tunnels, toll collection would continue indefinitely, subject to annual revisions. In Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) projects, once the concession period ends, the toll plaza is handed over to the government, which then continues collecting the user fee through its agencies.
On the issue of incomplete highway projects in Tamil Nadu, Gadkari informed that 48 projects are currently in progress, covering 1,046.84 km with an investment of ₹38,359.25 crore. These projects are scheduled for phased completion by February 2027. However, he cited multiple reasons for delays, including land acquisition issues, forest clearances, utility relocations, excessive rainfall, restrictions by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) during monsoon, and resource mobilization challenges faced by contractors.
