Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway toll hike deferred for 3 months

Stung by public criticism, the NHAI has withheld for three months the hike in toll charges for the Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway. In addition, toll collection wouldn't begin on the 61-km Nidaghatta-Mysuru section of the expressway until after the assembly elections get over, an official said.

Vehicle drivers were to pay at least 22 per cent more for using the 55.63-km Bengaluru-Nidaghatta section from April 1, just 17 days after toll collection began on the expressway that Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated on March 12.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said the hike was "an annual exercise" applicable to all national highways and expressways in the country. DH was the first to report the development in its March 31 edition.

The hike didn't go down well with vehicle users, who feel the current rates are already "too high". Those travelling to and from Bidadi, Ramanagar and Channapatna were particularly upset.

Public backlash and the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections forced the NHAI to reconsider its decision. A senior official at the NHAI (Bengaluru) said the hike had been deferred for three months. "We were well within the rules when we raised toll charges from April 1. But we understand that the hike came within a month of the inauguration. So we will keep the existing rates," the official added.

An attendant at the Sheshagirihalli toll plaza in Ramanagar said on Saturday they had not received any official instructions about the hike, so they were sticking to the old rates.

What was the hike?

As per the new rates, cars/vans/Jeeps were to pay Rs 165 for a single journey, Rs 250 for a return journey within 24 hours and Rs 5,575 for 50 single journeys in a month. The current rates are Rs 135, Rs 205 and Rs 4,525, respectively.

Buses and trucks (two axles) were to pay Rs 565 (single journey) and Rs 850 (return journey within 24 hours), as against Rs 460 and Rs 690, respectively.