Court gives its nod to stakeholders’ mutual consent to stop toll collection
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday approved the removal of Delhi-Gurgaon toll plaza after the parties involved submitted their mutual consent for it. The judgement, passing the consent order, is likely to bring a huge relief to lakhs of commuters who spend thousands in fuel while crawling at the traffic jam at the toll plaza everyday.
The High Court, while passing the consent order, said that “National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) would have to give reasonable time to lenders/substitute concessionaire to implement the MoU.” This means, the deadline to remove the toll plaza is yet to be decided. For the second toll plaza at Kherki Dhaula, the court gave 90 days to the lead banker Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC), which takes over the toll project, to bring new concessionaire.
Once the first toll plaza is removed, tolling will be allowed only at the second toll plaza at Kherki Dhaula. The terms of the settlement, recorded by Justice Manmohan Singh in the consent order, would lead to dismantling of 12 out of total 16 toll lanes on the Expressway connecting Delhi and Gurgaon.
The court, however, concurred with the plea of NHAI that South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and SMS Infrastructure limited, which has been awarded a contract for three years by the civic body, can be allowed to use remaining four toll plazas for levying entry tax from commercial vehicles coming to Delhi.
As per the settlement terms, current concessionaire Delhi-Gurgaon Super Connectivity ltd (DGSCl) shall be “discharged of all claims, liabilities and obligations, existing and future, under the Concession Agreement dated April 18, 2002, the Rupee loan Agreement dated September 9, 2010 and under the MoU dated September 18, 2012.”
“The said liabilities and obligations are hereby taken over and assumed by IDFC (on behalf of the senior lenders) on terms set out in the Bilateral Agreement between DGSCl and IDFC and NHAI consents thereto subject to no liability coming on to NHAI due to the said bilateral agreement,” said the court.
“Sirhol toll plaza at km stone-24 shall be removed and the user public will not have to pay toll for commuting between Delhi and Gurgaon. The lenders or the substitute concessionaire are allowed to collect toll only at km stone-42 Toll Plaza (Kherki Dhaula) by combining the rates at both the plazas, but the local traffic rates and discounts are same as earlier applicable at km stone-42 Toll Plaza,” said a statement from the Central Government.