'No toll for commuters on Delhi-Noida Direct flyway': Supreme Court rejects review plea of NTBCL

New Delhi: In a relief to the daily commuters using the Delhi-Noida Direct flyway, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to reconsider its 2024 decision, holding that the flyway would remain toll free.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh dismissed the plea seeking review of the December 20, 2024 verdict on a plea by Noida Toll Bridge Company Ltd (NTBCL), a private firm running the DND flyway.

The firm - which approached the apex court -- referred to the CAG report relied upon by the apex court and said it had some positive remarks on the company, which the order did not reflect and thereby sought a review of the December 20, 2024 order.

By its previous judgment, the top court upheld the 2016 decision of Allahabad High Court making the DND flyway toll-free and castigated the NOIDA authority and the Uttar Pradesh and Delhi governments saying the blatant misuse of power and breach of public trust have profoundly shocked its conscience.

The court had then noted the company had already recovered both the construction cost and a fair profit since the flyway opened in 2001.

"No person or entity can be allowed to make an undue and unjust profit from public property, at the cost of the public at large," the bench had said.

The High Court's judgment had come on a plea by the Federation of Noida Residents Welfare Associations which challenged the levy and collection of toll in the name of 'user fee' by NTBCL.

In its judgment, the court had also come down heavily upon the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA) for allowing a toll company to exploit users indefinitely, observing that when a state engages in public work, it must be free of arbitrariness.

The bench said the contract awarded to NTBCL through a Concession Agreement by state authorities and NOIDA was unfair, unjust and inconsistent with constitutional norms.

NOIDA exceeded its authority by delegating the power to levy fees or impose tolls to the company, the bench said.

The DND flyway, operational since 2001 has drastically reduced traffic congestion and travel time between Delhi and Noida stretch of 9.2 km. The commuters were charged Rs 28 for a one-way trip or Rs 56 for a round trip on the expressway.