BMIC toll rates all set to go up

It may not be politics alone that will haunt motorists using the NICE corridor. Very soon they might have to cough up more for every ride, as the toll fares are set to be hiked.

Going by the Revised Toll Notification of the Government of Karnataka (Gazette notification dated January 2, 2010), the toll rates will soon be hiked. DNA correspondents came across several boards erected at the toll gates announcing the new rates.

But the hike has not yet come into effect.

According to the revised rates, a two wheeler rider who pays Rs6 for the stretch between Tumkur Road and Mysore Road will have to pay Rs8. A car user who is paying Rs29 on the Mysore Road-Bannerghatta Road stretch, will have to shell out Rs38. The following are the hiked toll fares (figures in bracket are existing fares): Bus Rs110 (from Rs84), Truck Rs70 (Rs56), LCV Rs42 (Rs33), MAV Rs75 (Rs60) and two-wheeler Rs16 (Rs11).

“The toll collected is already high. How can they expect us to pay more?” asked Rajesh K, a college student.

NICE spokesperson Manjunath Naikar said: “We are yet to decide on when the new rates will come into force.” Another official added on condition of anonymity, “With the farmers’ agitation on, the company is not in a position to implement the fares and further antagonise the public.”