Bengaluru-Hassan highway toll to go up from Sept 1

Zooming through the Bengaluru-Hassan highway (NH75) will get costlier from September 1 as the NHAI has revised the toll fee. The new rates are likely to affect regular commuters.

Thousands of people commute between Bengaluru and Hassan every day and use the tolled stretches at Nelamangala-Devihalli and Karbylu (Bellur Cross).

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has approved the revision of toll fee with effect from next month.

Commuters making multiple journeys and availing daily passes have to dig deeper into their pockets for using the road.

Car users have to pay Rs 70, that is an additional Rs 5, for the two-way ticket while the monthly pass will get costlier by Rs 20 (Rs 1,370).

Some relief

For light commercial vehicles (LCV), the cost of monthly pass has gone up to Rs 40. While the one-way user fee for cars has remained unchanged, the LCVs have been spared from hike in even the multiple journey fare.

Buses and trucks will pay Rs 5 more for both one-way (Rs 160) and two-way (Rs 240) user fee. Their monthly pass rate will go up from Rs 4,725 to Rs 4,800, an increase of 75.

For utilities like KSRTC, which run thousands of vehicles on the route, the hike in pass fare will result in higher operational cost.

Sources in Lanco Devihally Highways Limited, the concessionaire for the highway, said the economic crisis brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic has made the NHAI keep the rates unchanged for some users.

"We are entering the second month of unlock period, but the toll collection has remained poor as a majority of people are avoiding travelling. The weekend toll collection would touch Rs 10 lakh, but we are struggling to cross even the half-way mark now," the sources said.

The revision, however, will still pinch the pockets of commuters, especially those who come to Bengaluru for work and return to many places on the way to Hassan in the evening.