To penalise non performance by road developers involved in widening of roads from four to six lane,the inter-ministerial group (IMG) has approved the road transport ministrys proposal to cap increase in toll rates to 80 per cent for a project that has not been completed within the stipulated time. An official present in the meeting said that the IMG has given an in-principle approval and the final approval will come from the Cabinet. The increase in toll rates during the construction period will be staggered and not one time and only those developers,who complete their road project within the stipulated time,will be allowed to charge 100 per cent of the increase, said the official. The other options,which were also part of the proposal,included keeping the toll rates at four-lane level till the construction is complete and giving targets to the road developers and punishing them for not being able to achieve it. These proposals were not accepted by the IMG. This will be a moving away from the current norms,where a developer is allowed to charge increased toll rates (according to 2008 toll rules) the moment it starts widening work on a four-lane road. All existing four-lane roads continue to charge on the basis of 1998 toll rules. This would be a huge loss for road developers,as toll rates,according to 2008 toll rules,are 150 per cent higher than 1998 toll rules. Any delay in the completion of construction of road project would mean that the road developer is deprived of the 20 per cent component of toll revenues for the entire concession period that runs up to 25 years,thus,impacting the viability of the project. But this will bring respite for commuters,who have to face huge pile up on around 17 four-lane road projects that are being widened. The major ones include Delhi-Jaipur,Delhi-Agra and Panipat-Jalandhar.
