Road toll may be charged only after completion of project.

The government is considering a change in road toll policy that will allow developers charge toll only after the entire road has been completed, a proposal that is unlikely to go down well with companies struggling to raise money for their projects.

Roads minister Nitin Gadkari said in the Lok Sabha on Thursday that the policy of road toll collection will be changed so as to allow toll collection only after completion of the project instead of the current norm of starting toll collection after 75% of the project is complete.

Gadkari added that the changes will also facilitate stopping the collection of toll once the cost of a project is recovered.

An official in the roads ministry confirmed that the changes are being looked at but that the process is still in its early stages. This person, who didn’t want to be identified, added that the ministry would also have to look at the implications the changes may have on the model concession agreement (MCA) between the government body bidding out road projects and private developers.

A second roads ministry official said the changes are being considered to address the unhappiness several users have expressed with having to pay toll, sometimes because the roads are incomplete.

The changes aren’t a good idea, said a developers lobby.

LIVEMINT