Toll Tax

Tolls are taxing, and not simply because they lighten your wallet by a seemingly inconsequential sum everyday!

Don’t you just love going for long drives? Imagine if you get open stretches of road, and it’s only you and your set of wheels. It just feels magical. Ha, you’re dreaming, my friend – come back to reality. In the confines of metro city madness, long open stretches is a luxury that’s beyond reach – even if Mallya is your surname. But, there are, at times, those rare moments of open-road bliss!

My commute, from home-to-work, is only 16 kilometres, and yet it takes me about an hour to complete the journey – that is, if I leave during peak office hours. That’s why I prefer to leave home at about 8 in the morning, so that I avoid the huge jams and bottlenecks that get formed only 15 minutes after.

I’ve, deliberately, left for office at varying times of the morning only to monitor how differently the traffic behaves, and, after much observation, I decided to stick to my preferred time. I leave home at the same time – 8-ish every morning, and leave office post 9pm. This shortens my travel time by almost 40 minutes – my commute, both ways, gets reduced to merely 20 odd minutes. And the best thing is that I get to experience – relatively speaking of course – open roads.

But, lately, the scenario has changed. You see, I live in Noida – which is connected to my office in Delhi via a toll road called the DND (Delhi-Noida Direct) Flyway. It’s a brilliant thing, and was built with an investment of close to Rs.410 crore. All was going well, and no one complained, till one fine evening the authority guys sat down over drinks, I presume, and, while discussing how to pocket more money, came up with the brilliant idea of increasing the toll at the DND – and this has since resulted in a lot of inconvenience for commuters.

The toll for bikes was hiked from Rs.10 to 11, and for cars it’s now 22 bucks, up two Rupees from what it was previously. You may wonder what’s wrong with me that I’m protesting so vociferously against a 2 Rupee increase. But, the point is, it’s not just about me, it’s about you as well.

Now, it usually takes – at a minimum – about ten minutes longer at the toll plaza than before, as there’s a huge scramble for loose change during peak traffic hours. Earlier, motorists used to hand out 20 bucks, the barrier would open in no time, and the next car would line up instantly. Now, change has to be sifted through, and this takes time. Yes, there are guys who are kind enough to tender exact change, but only a few.

According to a study, almost Rs.1,000 crore of fuel is wasted in New Delhi alone in a year just by vehicles idling in traffic. And with the toll increase, another 10 minutes per car on the DND is added to that. Imagine the added loss!

And, for a second, forget about the monetary loss, what about the intangible effect – the number of man-hours that are lost in the delay. 70,000 cars cross the toll every day. So, assume just one person in each car for purposes of this calculation, and it equates to a loss of 11,666 man-hours lost in a single working day alone. Now, consider that for just a minute – all because of a mere two Rupee increase in toll.

And then there are issues of failing health, the carbon footprint, and global warming as a result – all of which require massive additional investments. And hey, just to form a comparison – the Gurgaon toll booth collects Rs.21 for almost 30 kilometres of expressway, while DND levies Rs.22 per car for a mere 9.2 kilometres.

I hope someone with a conscience is reading this. I, for one, fail to understand why everyone is so short-sighted when it comes to development of the nation!