The Hindu 06.09.2012
South corporation frets over revenue loss
NEW DELHI: While the Punjab and Haryana high court order to suspend toll collection on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway for 15 days has come a big relief for lakhs of commuters, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation is worried about the huge revenue loss that would run into crores of rupees.
The municipal toll tax collection from all commercial vehicles entering Delhi from NH-8 was being collected by the expressway contractor till Tuesday night. On Wednesday, the private concessionaire, municipal officials said, didn't collect municipal tax from commercial vehicles and this means the south corporation could have lost at least Rs 18-20 lakh in a single day. What has caused greater concern for other municipal bodies is that more commercial vehicles might try to avoid other inter-state entry points and take NH-8 since there is no mechanism to stop such vehicles.
The cash-strapped civic agency even had an urgent meeting with Delhi government officials on Wednesday evening and sources said that the municipal corporation would approach the Delhi High Court on this issue. "If this continues, the civic body will lose crores of Rupees in the next 15 days. The private concessionaire has to be directed to collect municipal tax from commercial vehicles,'' said a senior South Corporation official. A spokesperson of Delhi-Gurgaon Super Connectivity Ltd ( DGSCL) said that they have sought the Punjab and Haryana high court's views on this issue.
As per Supreme Court order all commercial vehicles entering Delhi have to pay tax to the municipal body and this is one of the key sources of revenue for civic agencies. The civic agency has outsourced the toll tax collection to the private concessionaire. In May last year, the erstwhile MCD had managed to get the highest bid of Rs 936 crore for three years. Sources said that stopping commercial vehicles to collect toll tax at Delhi-Gurgaon border would not be an easy task since the commercial vehicles can easily chose any of the 16 lanes to cross the plaza and doing that would also result hindering smooth movement of traffic. "That might be violation of Punjab and Haryana high court order," said an NHAI source .
