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Civic bodies continue to incur losses worth crores in toll tax

Three municipal bodies have not done much to make up for the loss of around Rs 1,600 cr per annum

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Civic bodies can generate a revenue of Rs 2,146 crore and more only when all the 124 entry points of the city are upgraded to the electronic toll system
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Even after facing criticism from all quarters over mismanagement and corruption, the municipal corporations — North, South, and East Delhi — have failed to change their path and implement schemes and projects properly.

Interestingly, the cash-strapped corporations, despite carrying out several surveys, have not mended their ways and are incurring a loss of around Rs 1,600 crore per year in toll tax collection from commercial vehicles in Delhi. The BJP-led corporations roped in private players to carry out a study on toll tax collection in Delhi and found that an annual revenue collection of Rs 2,146 crore is estimated but only Rs 500 crore is collected annually.

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) is the nodal agency for all the three civic bodies and currently handles a total of 124 entry points into the city. The SDMC has now planned to implement an electronic toll system for collecting tax at 13 entry points, in order to decongest toll plazas. The equipment will be installed by the end of this month. The toll locations selected for the project include Ghazipur (main and old), Shahdara flyover, Kundli, Rajokri, Kalindi Kunj, Tikri, Kapashera and Aya Nagar among others.

They have been citing that the study report cannot be implemented on the ground. "It cannot be implemented on the ground and no private player is ready to collect a large amount of money for us," said a senior IAS officer of the municipal corporation. He further added that the corporation can generate a revenue of Rs 2,146 crore and more only when all the 124 entry points into the city are upgraded to the electronic toll system. Till then, the government will continue to incur a loss of Rs 1,600 crore every year.

In 2015, a 24-hour traffic survey conducted by Shriram Institute for Industrial Research at all entry points said the volume of traffic entering Delhi was much more than the number of vehicles from which tax was being collected. The survey also stated that the estimated revenue collection of Rs 2,146 crore can be done every year.

"If the study is implemented properly, money collected from toll tax collection can alone make up for six months' salary of nearly one lakh employees of the bankrupt East and North Delhi Municipal Corporations," the officer said. These two civic bodies spend approximately Rs 3,100 crore annually on the salary of their employees. While 65,000 workers are employed with the NDMC, there are nearly 35,000 employees working for the East Delhi Municipal Corporation.

Sources said Municipal Corporation of Delhi employees could have checked the loss of revenue due to toll tax collection, but officials sought to justify outsourcing of tax collection, saying it was impossible for the civic body to deploy adequate manpower for tax collection. The officer further stated that they have invited several bids for appointing a new contractor but no bidder has turned up so far.

Thus, the corporations are forced to relax the norms and reduce the minimum reserve price. The mismanagement and corruption have led to a loss of Rs 1,600 crore per year with no solution to implement smart ways of collecting toll taxes.

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