Free Tags for Local Vehicles at Gurgaon Toll Plaza

Gurgaon, Jan 10 (IANS) All vehicles - private and commercial - belonging to the residents of 31 villages near Kherki Daula toll plaza on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway will get toll-free tags from Monday, an official said Saturday.

After a number of meetings held between local administration, police officers, villagers and the concessionaire of the toll plaza, a way was finally found to end the recurring row over non-payment of toll tax.

The Millennium City Expressway Private Limited (MCEPL), the concessionaire company of the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway, agreed to issue toll free tags to people from 31 villages near the Kherki Daula toll gate from Jan 12.

"Though the concessionaire agreement allows us to give 50 percent exemption on personal and 35 percent on commercial vehicles, we have finally reached the conclusion so that the matter is resolved peacefully and permanently," a senior official of the concessionaire said.

At present, the toll rates (per trip) are Rs. 60 for cars, Rs. 88 for medium vehicles and Rs. 160 for heavy vehicles.

The base of the toll exemption plan was prepared in a meeting held between Gurgaon's Joint Commissioner of Police Saurav Singh, Sub Divisional Magistrate Vatsal Vashist and MCEPL CEO S. Raghuraman among others Dec 2.

The villagers will be issued free tags for their personal as well as commercial vehicles.

They will only have to produce original registration certificates (RCs) of their vehicles to receive the free tags at the camp to be organised by MCEPL.

After issuing free tags, no villager will be allowed to cross the toll plaza by merely showing voter ID or driving licence.

Local villagers have protested on many occasions against paying toll fee.

Earlier, they also forcibly opened the toll gates, allowing all vehicles to pass without paying toll fee.

The villages which claim exemption include Manesar, Shikohpur, Sikanderpur, Rampura, Nakhrola, Naurangpur, Badshahpur, Bar Gujjar, Bass Kushla, Dhana, Fazilpur, and Naharpur, among others.