Toll would be done away with in phased manner: Maharashtra PWD minister Chandrakant Patil

Maharashtra PWD minister Chandrakant Patil on Friday reviewed the toll policy in the state and said it was difficult to scrap the tax immediately. The high toll rates has become a contentious issue in the state in the last few years.

Patil today assumed the charge of his office and reviewed the toll policy.

"It would be difficult to scrap the toll system immediately," he said, adding that it would be scrapped in a phased manner. The new BJP government in the state had already decided that the PWD department would construct the new roads costing upto Rs 200 crore, he said.

Patil also said that he had ordered setting up of `E-way' -- where electronic payment can be made -- at the toll plazas to avoid queueing up of vehicles. A meeting of representatives of the road-toll firms will be held soon to review the toll collections so far and the balance construction costs that these firms have yet to recover, he said.