PIL challenges legality of continued toll collection at city entry points

At present, only heavy vehicles entering Mumbai through five entry points – Dahisar, LBS Road-Mulund, Eastern Express Highway-Mulund, Airoli Creek Bridge, and Vashi – need to pay toll tax

MUMBAI: A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Bombay High Court, challenging the legality of levying toll on heavy vehicles entering Mumbai and seeking suspension of toll collection at all five entry points into the city till the petition is pending. The Chief Secretary and the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), which manages arterial roads in the city and collects toll via a contractor, have been named as respondents in the PIL filed by Pravin Wategaonkar, an advocate.

PIL challenges legality of continued toll collection at city entry points

At present, only heavy vehicles entering Mumbai through five entry points – Dahisar, LBS Road-Mulund, Eastern Express Highway-Mulund, Airoli Creek Bridge, and Vashi – need to pay toll tax. Light motors vehicles were charged ₹45 to ₹75 while entering Mumbai before they were exempted from toll payment in October 2024.

The continued levying of toll on heavy vehicles was “mala fide, arbitrary and illegal” as the as there was no clarity on the total amount that the MSRDC was authorised to collect in the first place in lieu of constructing flyovers and maintaining the Eastern and the Western Express Highways, Sion-Panvel Highway and Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg, the PIL filed on September 30 said.

Wategaonkar said had filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act in October 2023, seeking details about the Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) agreement between the MSRDC and the state government regarding construction of flyovers and maintenance of the arterial roads, and the total capital outlay for the same.

The court must enquire into the “legality, validity and the propriety” of not only the 2002 notification which authorised MSRDC to collect toll, but also the June 2025 Government Resolution (GR), allowing the MSRDC to continue collecting toll from heavy vehicles at least till September 17, 2029, to compensate for the loss of revenue owing to toll exemption for light motor vehicles.

The Constitution lays down that “no tax shall be levied or collected except by authority of law”, which confers the right upon vehicle-owners not to be subjected to mala-fide and arbitrary taxation, the PIL said. It cited the Motor Vehicle Act, 1958, which lays down that the state government shall, while determining the rate of toll and the period for which such toll shall be levied, consider the total capital outlay. The Act is a taxing statute and needs to be interpreted strictly, the PIL said.

The state did not enter into any BOT agreement, not only vitiating the notifications but also subjecting thousands of vehicle users to arbitrary and illegal financial burden, the PIL said, urging the court to declare the 2002 notification and the 2025 GR must as ultra vires to the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Tax Act and the Constitution of India.