Can’t levy toll on DND, says Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad high court has restrained the Noida Toll Bridge Company Ltd (NTBCL) from collecting toll from commuters on (Delhi-Noida-Direct) DND flyway connecting Noida and South Delhi, bringing relief to millions of daily commuters.

Hours after the judgment, thousands of vehicles sped past the toll gate unhindered without paying any levy as they cheered the court verdict.

A division bench, comprising Justices Arun Tandon and Sunita Agarwal, passed the order while allowing a PIL filed by the Federation of Noida Residents’ Welfare Association even as the NBTCL said it will file a plea in the Supreme Court on Thursday challenging the order.

The PIL, which was filed in 2012, had challenged the “levy and collection of toll in the name of user fee by Noida Toll Bridge Company”, saying that the operator has already made profits.

The high court had on August 8 reserved its judgment on the plea.

In more than a 100-page judgment, the court held, “The user fee which is being levied/realised is not supported by the legal provisions relied upon by the Concessionaire (Noida Toll Bridge Company), Infrastructure Leaning and Financial Services (promoter and developer of the project) and the Noida Authority.”

It said that the “right to levy and collect user fee from the commuters as conferred upon the Concessionaire under the concession agreement suffers from excessive delegation and is contrary to the provisions the UP Industrial Development Act”.

Meanwhile, Rama Raman chairman of the Noida Authority said it had always supported the residents, who were against toll collection.

The Noida toll bridge company limited that were collecting toll said it stopped collection of toll right after orders of the high court.