HC gets plea to stop toll collection on Mumbai-Pune Expressway

The Bombay High Court today sought the Maharashtra government stand on a plea to stop collecting toll on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway as the targetted sum of Rs 2,869 crores has already been collected by the contractor.
The bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice G S Kulkarni sought the stand while issuing notices to the government and the contractor, Mhaiskar Infrastructure Pvt Ltd and fixed April 25 as the next date of hearing.
The plea was made to the court by a state native Praveen Wategaonkar and three others, who said in their petition that the government had in 2015 closed 12 toll plazas in the state and also decided to exempt the light motor vehicles from paying toll tax at 53 toll centres in Maharashtra.

A committee was also appointed to separately look into the issue of exempting the LMV from paying toll on the Mumbai- Pune Expressway.
The petitioners said they had made a representation to Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), analysing a survey commissioned by the government-appointed committee in July 2015 which had alleged under-reporting in the traffic count/toll income by about 40 per cent.
The report of this committee submitted on April 18, 2016, is under government's consideration for the last 12 months, said the petition.