The government last Monday sprang a surprise for millions of road users. The cabinet at its regular weekly meeting on the day decided in principle to collect toll from them in varying rates. Luckily, however, the government is not in a hurry to slap it.
The cabinet secretary at the end of the meeting informed the waiting media men that the cabinet had approved the draft 'Toll Policy-2014'that makes it mandatory for all vehicles, including rickshaws, to pay tolls for using national, regional and inter-district highways, ranging from Tk.5.0 to Tk.1000. The policy will also be applicable in the case of overpasses, tunnels and bridges having a length of over 200 metres.
The pious objective behind imposing tolls, according to the government, is to collect money for repair, maintenance and development of the country's road network.
Obviously there would be no immediate impact of the decision since the cabinet has only approved the draft of the Toll Policy and it would be enforced at an 'appropriate' time. But the policy surely would trigger opinions both in favour and against the move which would also leave some economic consequences. The revenue mobilisation might help mobilise resources for road development, but the toll collection would obviously lead to the hike in the fares of buses and trucks. The hike, in turn, would prompt an increase in the prices of different commodities, including the essential ones.
Under the draft toll policy, the users of all existing highways would be required to pay toll, not for the new roads and highways that should be ideally built by the private builders solely or under the private-public partnership (PPP) initiatives. In neighbouring India, tolls are being collected in the case of national highways built under Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) mechanism. The involvement of the private sector is considered the best way of building quality roads. Even resourceful countries such as the US and China have been following the system.
However, a couple of months back, the Indian state of Maharashtra witnessed political agitation over collection of excessive tolls from the road users. Some opposition political parties have even promised to do away with the toll collection if they are voted to power.
It would be interesting to watch the strategies to be deployed by the government while deciding to slap the tolls on road users. The latter would feel encouraged to pay toll only if they find the roads are fault-free and smooth for travelling. Otherwise, they might refuse to pay tolls. In that case, the government might have to spend a substantial amount of money on repair and maintenance of the existing highways prior to slapping tolls.
There are also a couple of issues that the government would have to address before introducing the road users' fees or tolls. The first one is the expeditious collection of tolls at the toll plazas and the second one relates to stopping the leakage of revenue collected through tolls.
Manual collection of tolls at different entry points of highways remains a time-consuming affair. During peak hours when traffic flow is relatively high, the vehicles are required to wait in long queues to pay toll at the toll plazas. This might prove irritating for both passengers and drivers of vehicles. Recently, some toll plazas on the busy Delhi-Gurugaon expressway came under attack by vehicle drivers who were subjected to long delays while paying tolls.
The electronic collection (e-collection) of tolls provides answers to both the problems. Under the e-collection system, a vehicle is fitted with a pre paid radio frequency identification (RFI) tag from which toll would be collected electronically each time the vehicle crosses the toll plaza. The RFI tags can be sold by bank branches and filling stations. The system would ensure expeditious collection of tolls and stop misappropriation.
Another issue needs to be addressed prior to taking a decision on road tolls. The motor vehicle owners are required to pay certain amount of money as 'road tax'. The owners have to produce the road tax payment receipts at the time of assessment of 'fitness' of their vehicles every year. The 'road tax' is meant for development, repair and maintenance of roads and highways. Many may tend to consider the proposed tolls as double taxation. The authorities should sort out the issue.
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