Toll should stop being levied on Mum-Pune E-way: Activists

Claiming that a certain contractor that charges toll on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway has already earned the amount it should have earned by 2019 as per its contract, Pune-based activists have demanded that toll should not be levied on that route any more.

The activists also demanded that the state government make public the reports of two committees constituted to look into the matter of charging of toll.

IRB, the private contractor concerned, has earned Rs 2,812 crore by September 20, 2016, the activists said. As per its contract, it should earn Rs 2,869 by September 2019. Taking into account the interest it would incur by 2019, Rs 2,812 crore crosses the amount of Rs 2,869 crore. As per the contract, once the contractor gets the said amount, it should stop charging toll, and the activists have hence made their demand.

Vivek Velankar, a member of Sajag Nagrik Manch, Pune, said, “The company (IRB) has earned the amount decided in the contract two and half years before time,” adding that, hence, toll should not be charged any longer on the route.

The joint managing director of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited, Kiran Kurundkar, said: “It was not expected that the contractor would collect the toll amount before 2019. We will discuss this matter with the government.” IRB officials, however, were not available for comment despite several calls.