Toll collection period in contracts to be extended to compensate operators

India Ratings and Research says the lockdowns would hit infrastructure construction and revenue growth of the implementing companies

With toll collection on national highways suspended across the country amid the Covid-19 crisis, the operators will be compensated through extension of their collection period by the same number of days for which the non-tolling is in force.
 

The government has also invoked the “force majeure” clause — the term for an unforeseeable circumstance or incident that prevents someone from fulfilling a contract. It is included in contracts to remove liability for natural and unavoidable catastrophes that interrupt the expected course of events and restrict participants from fulfilling obligations.
 

The clause, said a National Highways Authority of India official, had