CHENNAI: As the Lok Sabha polls were completed on Saturday, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has increased the vehicle user fees by Rs 5 to Rs 25 depending on the vehicle category at 34 toll plazas in Tamil Nadu. The fee revision will take effect from June 3 and will be in force till March 31, 2025, according to official sources. This is expected to cause a price hike for essential goods.
Originally scheduled to be enforced from midnight on April 1, the fee revision was postponed following a directive from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. However, the fee hike at seven toll plazas on state highways, including the Thiruvanmiyur-Mamallapuram East Coast Road, Vandalur-Minjur Outer Ring Road in Chennai, and Madurai Ring Road (from Uthangudi to Kappalur), which had also been delayed since April 1, has not been implemented yet.
There are a total of 63 toll plazas on the national highways and seven on the state highways in the state. The toll plazas at Vanagaram and Surapattu on the Chennai Bypass, Nallur on the Chennai-Kolkata Highway, and Athur and Paranur on the Tambaram-Tindivanam NH, among others, will undergo a fee revision.
Notably, the Tambaram-Tindivanam NH, developed with government funds, has not increased the fee for cars and light motor vehicles. The single journey fee for cars/jeeps and light motor vehicles will remain Rs 70 and Rs 115, respectively, at the Athur and Paranur toll plazas. However, the fee for buses, trucks, and other heavy vehicles will increase by Rs 5 to Rs 15 per vehicle.
The scheduled annual increase of user fees at the Nemili and Chennasamudran toll plazas has been halted since 2019 due to delays in completing the six-laning of the 96-km national highway from Maduravoyal to Walajahapet on the Bengaluru bypass. The toll rate was last increased on April 1, 2019.
About 95% of the 23-km stretch between Maduravoyal and Sriperumbudur on the Chennai-Bengaluru bypass has been widened into six lanes. “Once the remaining work is completed, we will write to the NHAI seeking approval to increase the user fee,” said an official.
The Tamil Nadu Road Development Company (TNRDC), which manages the ECR and ORR, and the Tamil Nadu Road Infrastructure Development Corporation (TNRIDC), which maintains the Madurai ring road, are expected to issue a notification to revise the fees for seven toll plazas after the Model Code of Conduct is lifted.