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Shinde stops Mumbai tolls before Maha polls
Maharashtra's Mahayuti government has scrapped tolls for light and non-commercial vehicles entering Mumbai, aiming to ease traffic and costs for commuters.
The Mahayuti government in Maharashtra on Monday decided to scrap the toll charged on light motor vehicles and non-commercial vehicles (school and regular buses) entering or exiting Mumbai, in a move announced by chief minister Eknath Shinde days before the Election Commission is set to announce polling dates for the state.
Nearly 280,000 light vehicles use the toll points each day and the decision, coming into effect from Monday midnight, could ease the flow of traffic at these places and help commuters save money.
“People have gone to court to oppose the tolls. I have also been a part of it in the past. I feel happy that we took this step; it will reduce pollution and curtail jams,” Shinde said.
This was yet another decision taken by the cabinet without discussing the fiscal implications on the state exchequer with the finance department, according to people familiar with the matter.
The government did not provide details as to how it will compensate the toll collection contractor with whom it has an agreement till 2027, though the cabinet has set up a committee under chief secretary Sujata Saunik to decide on the compensation to MEPL. HT reached out to Jayant Mhaiskar, owner of MEPL, but he was unavailable for comment.
In the recent past, the government has doled out many pre-election sops, ignoring the finance department’s red flags, such as the Ladki Bahin scheme (where underprivileged women get ₹1,500 each month), the Mukhyamantri Vayoshri Yojana (a one-time payout of ₹3,000 for the elderly to pay for support systems) and the CM Yuva Karya Prashikshan Yojana (to support the youth with a stipend of ₹6,000 to ₹10,000 for a year), among others.
Currently, ₹45 is charged from light vehicle owners and ₹75 from bus owners at entry and exit points of Mumbai. The corpus is collected to compensate the amount spent to build 55 flyovers and maintain them. The flyovers were constructed by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) during the Shiv-Sena-BJP rule from 1995 to 1999. Successive governments continued the levy.
In 2010, MSRDC appointed a contractor, Mumbai Entry Point Limited (MEPL), to collect the toll and maintain the 55 flyovers. The amount was collected at the LBS entry point at Mulund, Mulund Eastern Express Highway, Mulund-Airoli bridge, Dahisar and Mankhurd. The MEPL-state government contract ends in 2027, and the one at the Mankhurd-Vashi entry point in 2036.
The Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government had scrapped the toll at the Sion-Panvel highway in 2015. It however, sustained the collections at the entry and exit points of Mumbai, the Bandra Worli Sea Link and the Mumbai-Pune expressway.
The three-party alliance government, which is staring at a tough election, took the decision facing demands from various political parties and citizen groups for a long time. MSRDC minister Dada Bhuse said, “We have been planning this for a long time and took the bold step on Monday.”
The move will weigh heavy on the state’s coffers, given its existing agreement with MEPL which must be honoured. The government will now have to compensate by paying the remaining amount to the contractor.
Meanwhile, the MMRDA is planning to construct an elevated road from Ghatkopar to Thane soon at a cost of ₹2,682 crore by 2028. This spot, which will provide direct connectivity to Thane-ites to the Eastern Freeway to travel to the island city, will not be toll-free.
Workers of the ruling parties as well as the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) celebrated the decision by distributing sweets and bursting crackers. While MNS chief Raj Thackeray expressed happiness over the decision, he warned that this should not just be “some poll-related gimmick and remain a permanent decision”.
While he welcomed the decision, Congress general secretary Sachin Sawant urged the government to reveal how much money will it pay the contractor from the state exchequer, and more crucially, will the government now charge more from heavy vehicles passing through the toll nakas to compensate for the waiver on light vehicles.
“If they increase the toll on heavy vehicles, it will lead to an increase in prices of essential commodities, which will hurt common people’s pockets,” said Sawant.
While slamming Mahayuti government over toll waiver decision Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray called it a “jumla” (gimmick) ahead of the assembly polls. “No amount of jumlas from the Shinde-BJP regime can sway Maharashtra. To have looted Maharashtra for 2 years and then to give a toll waiver hours before an election code of conduct, clearly shows how desperate they are to try and sway us, Maharashtra. Their desperation to hide their loot and lure people will not work. For their own self, it was 50 khoke (moneybags)… now after khoke and dhoke, they are trying to give our state peanuts. Maharashtra needs jobs. Maharashtra needs investment. Maharashtra needs political stability. Maharashtra needs law and order. Maharashtra needs a government sensitive to citizens, not gaddaars (traitors). Maharashtra needs a capable CM. Maharashtra needs change,” Aaditya said in a post on X.
Bal Malkit Singh, chairman of the core committee of All India Motor Transport Congress, said “the decision was unfair towards a certain faction of the transporters’ community, who play a crucial role in providing essential services to the people of Mumbai”.
“The toll waiver should also be extended to commercial vehicle operators. Additionally, the government is yet to abolish the border check posts, which has been a long-pending issue. The government had agreed to it in principal, but is yet to actualise it. Removal of these posts in Maharashtra would have had a profoundly positive impact on the transport fraternity, both within the state and across India,” said Singh.
Mumbai joint commissioner of police (Traffic) Anil Kumbhare said: “This will ease traffic at toll nakas and make commuting easier.”
