HYDERABAD: Driving on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) is set to get costlier, as the toll will be increased by up to 10 per cent from Monday. The fee for cars will be hiked by 0.06 paise per km, while the rate for heavy construction machinery/earth-moving vehicles and oversized vehicles (seven or more axles) will go up by 0.28 paise and 0.34 paise per km respectively.
Tolls for the ORR are revised by the Hyderabad Growth Corridor Limited (HGCL) — a wing of Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) — on April 1 every year, based on rates prescribed in the National Highway Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008, issued by the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways.
The fee will continue to be rounded off to the nearest 10. The money collected goes towards maintenance of the ORR, loan repayment and annuity payments, among other things, HGCL officials said. They added that the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) Department permitted them to revise the rates, by incorporating provisions in the ORR Clause 5, which allows the HGCL to hike the charges every year. The rule says base rates shall be revised annually, with effect from April 1, to reflect the increase in Wholesale Price Index (WPI) over the rates notified.
At present, as many as 95,000 to 1,00,000 vehicles pass through the toll plazas at Kokapet, Edulanagulapally, Patancheru, Sultanpur, Saragudem, Medchal (Kandlakoya), Shameerpet, Keesara, Ghatkesar, Taramatipeti, Pedda Amberpet, Bonguluru, Raviryal, Thukkuguda, Pedda Golconda, Shamshabad, Rajendranagar, TSPA and Nanakramguda, covering a distance of 158 km.