While the State Government had on Tuesday decided to put on hold collection of hiked fee at the tollgates, there were allegations of collection of increased toll at Pipili in Puri district on Friday morning.
Collection of the hiked toll at the Pipili gate began on Friday morning, following which the Odisha Private Bus Owners’ Association opposed it. In protest, the association decided to stop bus service in the Puri-Bhubaneswar route. Several buses stood standstill at the tollgate. However, after getting assurance from Commerce and Transport Minister Ramesh Chandra Majhi regarding postponement of collection of hiked toll, the bus operators’ association decided to continue bus service in the route.
It may be recalled that the bus association had threatened to stop plying of buses passing through all eight tollgates in the State set up by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) from June 1.