Panel over 5 toll booths to file report by month end: Patil

The committee set up to review the toll booths at the five entry points of Mumbai is expected to submit its report by the end of this month, state Public Works Department minister Chandrakant Patil today said.
Patil had recently constituted a committee under Additional Chief Secretary of the PWD department, Anand Kulkarni to review option to exempt smaller vehicles from paying toll at five booths on the city fringes- Vashi, Airoli, Mulund, Bhandup and Dahisar.
"The committee constituted under ACS Kulkarni is expected to submit its report by the end of this month. Once we receive the report, we will take a call on the five entry points," Patil told PTI.

The committee, along with the entry points will also survey the toll booths at the (Mumbai-Pune) Expressway. But, our first target is the entry points. The committee will examine various options to exempt smaller vehicles from paying toll, he said.
The authority to collect toll at these points had been assigned to the contractors by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). The contractors are allowed to collect toll till November 19, 2026, as per the agreement between the two.
In order to annul the contract, the government will either have to compensate the contractors or buy back the projects.

In the past, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had stated that the previous government did not put a 'buy back provision' in major toll booths that has now become a legal hurdle to buy back these projects.