No toll tax for small vehicles in Gujarat from Aug 15

Decision not to affect toll booths on national highways as they are out of state purview

Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel on Saturday announced complete exemption to small private vehicles, including cars, from paying toll tax in the state.

The move will be formally implemented on August 15, 2016, Patel said.

Patel made the announcement during her speech in Valsad where she was inaugurating Aamra Van (mango orchard) as part of the 67th Van Mahotsav function.

According to Patel, while commercial and bigger vehicles will continue to pay toll tax, smaller private vehicles, including cars, will be exempt from paying toll tax while passing through toll roads across Gujarat.

Patel said that surveys are being conducted to ascertain the exact amount of burden that Gujarat government will have to bear for such an exemption.  However, the decision is not likely to affect toll booths on national highways as they are out of the purview of the state government.

The move comes at a time when the ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led state government has been witnessing protests from different communities such as the Patidars and now Dalits since almost a year.  The ruling party's prospects in the upcoming state assembly elections in December 2017 have been getting thinner with each passing day amid such protests.

Various sections of the Dalit community have been holding protests demanding stringent action against the so-called 'cow protectors' who had publicly thrashed four Dalits in Una earlier this month on the allegation of killing a cow, which was refuted by the victims claiming they were merely skinning an already dead cow.