Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announced a 40% reduction in toll fees for public-funded NH projects.

Toll Plaza Rates: The user price realized for publicly funded projects would be reduced to 40% for certain National Highway sections, bridges, tunnels, or bypasses, as applicable.

In response to a request for a 40% toll price reduction in projects with public finance, Member of Parliament (MP) P Wilson said on Friday that Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has acceded to his proposal.

"The user charge realised for publicly financed improvements would be lowered to 40% of the user fee for certain National Highway sections, bridges, tunnels, or bypasses, as appropriate, in accordance with section 6(b) of the NH Fee Rules. The NH Price Rules will dictate an annual adjustment to this fee," In a letter to the lawmaker, Union Minister Gadkari.

On the floor of the Parliament, he had earlier requested that the minister remove all toll booths from the country's national roads and replace them with a one-time registration fee. He noted this in a tweet. He thanked Gadkari and shared the reply letter.

He wrote to thank the union minister “This choice would significantly lessen the stress on the drivers. However, I continue to ask the Honorable Minister to impose a one-time registration cost instead of a toll in the near future.”

In a letter of response, the Union Minister stated, “I am aware that there are some toll plazas which are located within less than 60Kms distance. We have decided to solve this problem by using advance technology solutions. This technology will enable the authority to charge commuters on a pro-rata basis; based on the distance travelled.”

"With this new toll management system; the distance between toll plazas will be redundant. We recently conducted a Hackathon to get the best available tech-driven solutions in this context. Already, a pilot project, based on Automatic Number Plate Reading (ANPR), is under execution," according to Gadkari's letter.

The letter read, We will implement this method which will address the issue of distance between toll gates when the pilot research is assessed and verified.

The collection of user fees at the fee plaza is governed by the New Hampshire Fee Rule 2008 as modified and the New Hampshire Fee Rule 1997 as per the pertinent user fee notifications, he informed the legislator.

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