Under duress, firm rolls back DND toll rate hike

Following mounting pressure, Noida Toll Bridge Company Limited (NTBCL) decided to roll back the increased toll for DND with immediate effect.

Following mounting pressure, Noida Toll Bridge Company Limited (NTBCL) decided to roll back the increased toll for DND with immediate effect.

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“NTBCL CEO Harish Mathur has promised to take back the increased toll, for now. We have asked them to send a fresh proposal. Once it (the proposal) is in, we will negotiate the revised tax,” Noida CEO Rama Raman said.

A high-level meeting between the CEOs of the Noida authority and NTBCL earlier on Thursday failed to end the ongoing logjam over the increased tax rate on Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) Flyway. This is the second such meeting that failed. The breakthrough, however, came later in the evening.

On February 10, NTBCL started making announcement regarding a toll hike (from R20 to R25 for a car) with effect from February 15. Noida authority officials said they had not been kept in the loop and the new rates were illegal as the taxes could not be increased without the development authority’s approval. Amid protests by residents, NTBCL started collecting increased taxes.

On Tuesday, Noida authority officials said the tax hike had been effected in violation of the concession agreement. A letter has also been sent to the toll bridge company by the authority to register its protest.

The average daily traffic on DND Flyway, a crucial link connecting south Delhi with Noida, is around one lakh vehicles. As much as 75% of them are cars.

Even as residents protested the hike, Noida authority officials proceeded to seal the office of NTBCL, saying it had been constructed in an unauthorised manner.