From the single pedal cycle moving coal or other products (one pedal removed to make pushing it uphill easier, since riding down will be largely free-wheel) to the large multi-axle trailer heading all over the country tracked by satellite communication monitoring systems – they all have one thing in common, at almost every turn and twist along the road, in most parts of India, they stop to pay. And things just entered a new dimension, with even small two-lane side roads and by-lanes now coming of age, and becoming eligible to charge tolls – in the name of ‘improvement.’ However, all said and done, most people would not mind paying a little bit of money if the overall effect was positive – by way of better roads and reduced time, as well as effort therein.

The other assumption is that the larger share of this money is headed to what we refer to as ‘the Government,’ a supposedly homogeneous entity who will ostensibly take the money from us and put it to good use for the larger benefit of the other supposedly homogeneous entity known as ‘the public’ – who incidentally, as per the Constitution of the country, are also the real true new sovereigns.

Typically, what happens to the money you pay, allegedly legitimately, on the roads goes like this:

a) Parking mafia: usurp all side roads and pavements in or around small sections of ‘authorised’ parking spaces, using simple laws of the jungle. A very nominal sum will actually reach the local government authorities, that also, usually, only for a few months – before the ‘authorised’ part of the parking area (if any) moves into the limbo land of some dispute or the other. After that, it’s pure profit for the contractor, who meanwhile sub-lets segments of his territory, expanding into other related side-businesses like swapping new tyres (yours) for old re-cuts (his) and other such entrepreneurial innovations.

b) Toll booth smoothies: this is much bigger business, especially if it can be coupled with ‘entry taxes / fees,’ as is done for commercial vehicles entering Delhi for example. Here the toll collected after deducting the amount specified for constructing and maintaining the toll road is supposed to be passed on ‘in toto’ to the local government with a small service fee deducted, and the toll amount is supposed to be based on a complex formula involving actual traffic as well as minimum standards to be maintained. In actual fact, the toll charged is calculated almost on a whim. One estimate suggests that just about 1/8th of the money collected actually reaches the government – and this is in and around Delhi. The margins are even higher at locations further away from urban centres.

c) Octroi duties: here again, octroi is farmed out to ‘agencies’ who bid a minimum amount by percentage payable to the local government. The real money lies in (a) corrupting the complete octroi system, (b) holding on to the ‘float’ for weeks, if not months, and (c) making onward payments by cheques that will bounce. This is best observed in places like Mumbai and Pune, where the ‘agents associations’ often go on strike if people in business wish to use the parallel facility of making direct payments to the local government using a variety of methods, by-passing these agents.

d) Entry tax games: this is really innovative, especially in and around Delhi, and based on a Supreme Court order from 2002 meant to reduce pollution by penalising trucks entering Delhi. The local Government has started levying entry taxes on ALL commercial vehicles, including local buses and taxies. The contract for these entry taxes have been farmed out, and now nobody has any idea of how the rates are set, how much of what is going back to the government coffers, and why public passenger transport vehicles are being charged in the first place.

All this, and more. Standby now to pay tolls on small side roads wherever ‘they’ can put up a booth or barrier. And be sure – most of it will not go to the ‘government.’