Soldiers to get salute at toll plazas

Pune: Now, soldiers will be given a salute or standing ovation at the toll plazas while on the move. All personnel of the armed forces are exempted from paying toll tax while on official duty.

After getting complaints of rude behaviour meted out to soldiers by toll plazas staffs, last week, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) issued a policy circular stating, “The armed forces personnel deserve the highest regard and should be given due respect at the toll plaza including salute or standing ovations as deemed fit.”

The circular dated December 6 is issued by NHAI General Manager (IT & HO) Shailesh Yadav. “A lot of complaints are received from armed forces personnel that toll plazas agencies are not honouring the directions of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and are not allowing exemption from toll fee while discharging their official duty. In-spite of personnel/ officers showing their identity card and explaining that they are on official duty, toll plaza employees often use harsh languages and ask for further proof,” the circular noted.

Taking note of the complaints, the NHAI also ordered that only a competent authority or officer of the toll operating agency, and not the lower staff, can check the identity cards in case of any doubt.

“Considering the unparalleled service of armed forces towards the safety and security of the country, such type of rude behaviour is not acceptable. The toll plaza agencies are directed to train the toll operating staff accordingly to pay due respect to armed forces/ salute their selfless dedication to country. The verification of I-card of armed forces personnel should be done by some senior/competent authority and not left to the untrained lowest staff,” the diktat ordered.

The Indian Tolls (Army & Air Force) Act, 1901, provides for exemption from toll charges to all members of the armed forces. However, the controversy occurred after a letter issued by the MoRTH said only those ‘on duty’ would be entitled to the exemption. This resulted in toll operators insisting defence personnel pay toll charges and this often led to misbehaviour by toll attendants. As the tussle between defence forces and the transport ministry escalated, the matter was dragged to court and later the Supreme Court (SC) also ruled in favour of the armed forces, upholding the exemption.

Now, the NHAI, while extending relief to the armed forces, has asked the toll operators that in case of any doubt, the benefit must be given to the defence persons.

“It is needless to emphasise that considering the extreme sacrifice of armed forces to the nation, in case of doubt with respect to nature of their official duty, a benefit of the doubt
should be given appropriately to armed force personnel,” it said.

Mubarak Ansari  : Esakal 13 Dec 2017

http://www.sakaltimes.com/nation/soldiers-get-salute-toll-plazas-10176

Salute the soldiers, government orders toll plaza staff in the country

A policy circular issued by the ministry instructs toll plaza staff to salute the soldiers or give them standing ovation when they pass the toll plaza.

Rakesh Ranjan  | Posted By Manas Joshi

New Delhi, December 13, 2017 | UPDATED 07:52 IST

There were complaints of boorish behaviour from toll staff

Highlights

• 1 There were complaints of boorish behaviour by the toll plaza staff.

• 2 The ministry has instructed toll plaza staff to salute the soldiers or give them standing ovation when they pass.

• 3 It says that the move is in response to the 'unparalleled service' of the defence personnel.

Defence personnel who complained of boorish behaviour by attendants at toll plazas across the country will now encounter a course correction. The soldiers will be given a salute or standing ovation at the road tax collection kiosks while on the move.

A policy circular issued by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) last week said the move is in view of the "unparalleled service" of defence personnel towards the country for which they deserve the highest regard and honour.

The circular came on the heels of complaints that soldiers were not only forced to pay toll charges but were also treated rudely by attendants. Personnel of the Army, Navy and Air Force have been exempted from paying at any toll plaza in the country.

However, members of the Territorial Army and NCC were entitled for exemption only when they were on duty. The defence forces had complained to the NHAI that despite explaining to the toll attendants that they were on official duty, they often used harsh language against the personnel and insisted on checking their identity cards.

Taking note of the complaints, the NHAI also ordered that only a competent authority or officer of the toll operating agency, and not the lower staff, can check the identity cards in case of any doubt. "Considering the unparalleled service of the armed forces towards the safety and security of the county, such kind of rude behaviour is not acceptable.

The armed forces personnel deserve the highest regards and should be given due respect at the toll plaza including salute and standing ovation as deemed fit," the circular issued by the highways authority said.

The NHAI has also directed toll operators to train their staff to pay due respect and salute the men in uniform for their "selfless dedication to the country".

"The verification of the identity cards of armed forces personnel should be done by some senior/competent authority and should not be left up to the untrained lowest staff," the circular reads.

The Indian Tolls (Army & Air Force) Act, 1901, provides for exemption from toll charges to all members of the armed forces. However, the controversy occurred after a letter issued by the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) said only those "on duty" would be entitled for the exemption.

This resulted in toll operators insisting defence personnel to pay toll charges and this often led to misbehaviour by toll attendants. The armed forces claimed the letter was in contravention of the Indian Tolls Act.

The transport ministry also cited a noting of the law ministry that Section 3(b) of the Act only permits toll exemption to defence personnel who are "on duty". However, sources said the condition was only applicable to the Territorial Army and National Cadet Corps (NCC) personnel.

The government of India has exempted 15 categories, including dignitaries, from paying toll charges. These include the President, vice president, Prime Minister, chief justices and judges of the Supreme Court and high courts, governors and chief ministers, cabinet ministers, members of Parliament, MLAs and foreign dignitaries.

The exemption is also extended to the armed forces, paramilitary forces, gallantry award winners and emergency vehicles like ambulance and fire tenders. Recently physically challenged persons with more than 40 per cent handicap were also exempted from paying toll tax on highways. As the tussle between defence forces and the transport ministry escalated, the matter was dragged to court and later the SC also ruled in favour of the armed forces, upholding the exemption.

The NHAI, while extending relief to the armed forces, has told the toll operators that in case of any doubt, the benefit must be given to the defence persons.

"Considering the extreme sacrifices of the defence forces towards the nation, in case of any doubt with respect to nature of their official duty, the benefit of doubt must appropriately be given to the armed personnel," it said.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/toll-staff-soldiers-salute/1/1108944.html

 

No toll charges if wait time more than 3 minutes?

No toll charges if wait time more than 3 minutes? NHAI now says there is no such rule

Read the news about not having to pay toll charges if you have to wait at the booth area for over 3 minutes? Don't rejoice!

By: Smriti Jain | New Delhi | Updated: July 20, 2017 8:06 PM

The National Highways Authority of India has issued a clarification stating that no such rule allowing exemption from paying toll charges because of time taken exists.

Read the news about not having to pay toll charges if you have to wait at the booth area for over 3 minutes? Don’t rejoice! The National Highways Authority of India has issued a clarification stating that no such rule allowing exemption from paying toll charges because of time taken exists. The clarification, shared with FE Online states, “there is no specific exemption applicable relating to either time taken or distance of queuing of vehicles at Plaza, as part of transaction. As such, it is clarified that there is no provision of exemption to User Fee in case time taken for crossing the plaza is more than 3 minutes”.

“Ministry of Road Transport and Highways vide National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Amendment Rules 2010 dated 03.12.2010 has notified the list of vehicles exempted from payment of User Fee,” says NHAI adding that that there is no specific exemption for time taken. The clarification has now been hosted on the NHAI website as well. The need for clarification arose after an RTI applicant in a Facebook post shared that there is a provision to not pay toll charges if the waiting time is over three minutes.

Here is the NHAI clarification:

Hariom Jindal, reportedly an advocate from Ludhiana, had asked the NHAI in his RTI that if the “total waiting time including the time spent in the queue surpases 30 seconds, which means delay and harassment suffered by the computers, what are the provisions for compensation to be paid by your office to the commuter?” (sic). The reply on the RTI application dated August 29, 2016 says, “There is a total waiting time of 3 minutes, if the 3 minutes exceeds in waiting, then there is a provision to pass the vehicle free of cost.”

http://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/no-toll-charges-if-wait-time-more-than-3-minutes-nhai-now-says-there-is-no-such-rule/772126/

RTI Application Reveals Waiting Time At Tolls Should Not Be More Than 3 Minutes

By: Stephen Neil Published: Wednesday, July 19, 2017, 9:45 [IST]

A reply to an RTI application filed by a Ludhiana-based advocate has recently been doing the rounds on various social media platforms.

The advocate - Hariom Jindal had filed for the Right To Information (RTI) last year because of inconvenience caused to him and many other commuters, but the post is going viral almost a year later.

It is for sure that every single person who has driven on Indian highways has at some point gone through the very same inconvenience that Jindal had gone through - waiting at toll booths for the long queue to clear up.

Well, according to the RTI reply that Jindal got, the guidelines and rules set by the National Highway Authority of India state that the waiting time at any toll booth should not be more than 3 minutes.

Surprising? Well, yes. Most would be surprised, simply because of unawareness about this rule. The same issue had come up earlier this year and also in 2015, all at different locations.

In 2015, the collector of a district located on the highway between Nashik and Satara approached the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and asked them to pull up their sleeves in collecting tolls on the stretch.

The district administration had quoted the very same rule stated by the NHAI, and now the topic has come up again. According to the rule and as stated in the RTI writ copy, if made to wait for more than three minutes at the toll booth, the toll operator does not have the authority to impose a toll on the users.

 

Since toll is not a tax, and is a service fee, for which the consumer must get a service in return (usage of the road).

Mr Jindal approached the consumer court of ludhiana to bring the public services provided by the NHAI under the jurisdiction of the consumer court.

Mr Jindal's argument made sense, and this resulted in a landmark ruling.

This whole argument against the time-consuming process at Toll booths does make sense when looked at according to the rule.

However, can it be implemented practically?

Firstly, a blanket rule cannot be implemented across the nation regarding this because of the variation in road sizes.

So, If it is a 6-lane highway, it can be expanded at the toll booth to accommodate 10 or maybe 12 booths,

but if it is a 2-lane highway, it would barely be able to accommodate 4-lanes at the toll booth. And the fact is, most of India has these 2-lane national highways. Adding to this is, the time factor. The Vehicle in front has to move, then this vehicle has to be shifted into gear, and moved ahead.

Most of the time, the vehicle's drivers do not have the exact amount to tender and end up giving a Rs 500 or even Rs 2000 currency note.

The toll operator would then have to compute the transaction and return the remaining amount.

Now add to this, the kind of toll operator present in the booth, and how fast/slow he/she operates, and then you start getting the idea that, it is generally not possible to finish the whole transaction in a few seconds (like the rules would want it to happen).

The fast-track lane was introduced to counter this exact problem. But, once again, lack of awareness leads most people to get into the fast-track lane without having the fast tag.

The toll operators decided to counter the issue by positioning an employee there too, collecting toll manually, and we are back to square one.

 

Though the idea of waiting at a toll for not more than 3 minutes is very lucrative and enticing, it does not seem like it can be implemented successfully.

Well, not in all parts of India at least. Even if one expects to be let through the toll gates free of cost after waiting for more than 3 minutes, how would it be explained to the toll operators that it has been three minutes?

Would anybody want to waste some more time in arguing with the toll operators or just pay and leave? This is one of the many reason why this rule has stayed low even if genuine.

Now add to this the fact that there are reports of the government rubbishing this rule, and you get where we are heading to.

DriveSpark Thinks!

What people have to understand is that the whole process of collecting toll does take time, depending on the road, the terrain, the kind of vehicle you are in and the toll operator. At the same time, the toll operators should not take advantage of the public and have to streamline their process and try to provide the best service to the public, because they are paying for it.

Story first published: Wednesday, July 19, 2017, 9:45 [IST]

Read more at: http://www.drivespark.com/off-beat/rti-application-reveals-3-minute-wait-time-at-tolls-023076.html

You can skip toll at NHAI booths on highways

 Ateeq Shaikh | Thu, 20 Jul 2017-07:55am , Mumbai , DNA

Next time when you are on a National Highway and you happen to wait at any of National Highways Authority of India's (NHAI) toll booth for 3 minutes, well, you have the right to deny toll payment and hit the accelerator pedal.

Secondly, if there are six vehicles ahead of you waiting for their turn to pay the toll, you can refuse the toll payment.

After having had a not-so-good experience due to poor highway quality, Ludhiana-based advocate Hariom Jindal had filed an Right to Information application with NHAI.

"I was told by friends that attempts have been made by toll collection company to mislead people by wrongly informing that no rule of 3 minutes is applicable for letting vehicles go free of cost. I had taken it up with NHAI regarding harassment of commuters at toll plaza," said Jindal.

It was also wastage of time in long queues and inconvenience caused to motorists that prompted him to seek details.

However, none of the road construction companies or toll operators or even the government has been educating or making citizens aware about existence of such a rule.

DNA Money approached one of the infrastructure majors to know if this '3-minutes' rule existed, the response was that not only it is true but also there exist another clause under which a motorist can refuse toll payment.

What is this another ground for refusal? Even if there are six vehicles ahead in the queue waiting for their turn to pass the toll gate, you have the right of refusal to pay toll.

However, motorists including Jindal often claim that even after having argued at toll plazas of poor road quality, still the staff force motorist to cough up toll amount.

"They even threaten people if toll is refused due to pothole ridden roads. In other words, the road or highway developers and toll collection staff are white collared goons extorting motorists," said Roy Jacob, a motorist.

Unlike almost all the road users, Jindal moved Ludhiana's district consumer forum to make concerned authorities including NHAI and three other private road developers, namely, Soma-Isolux NH One Tollways, GMR Ambala-Chandigarh Expressways and L&T Panipat Elevated Corridor accountable. "The case filed is about compensation for defective and damaged road resulting in bursting of car tyres. It is pending before the honourable consumer court," told Jindal to DNA Money.

Has Jindal ever managed to cross toll post without payment for waiting beyond 3-minutes? Yes, he has been successful on a couple of occasions, he claimed. "A couple of times, the waiting period exceeded 3-minutes, the moment I used to reach the queue, when it was long, I used to switch on mobile video camera and show to the booth operator when waiting time exceeded 3-minutes," narrated Jindal.

While these two rules for non-payment are applicable on National Highways of India, the rule differs for toll (Built-Operate-Transfer or Toll Collection) contracts for each and every state highway. For example, Maharashtra's Public Works Department and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation have no formal guidelines or rules on possibility of toll refusal due to excessive waiting time.

"If waiting time exceeds 4 minutes, the toll agency will have to make alternate arrangements for collection either using handheld device or staggered toll booths. Earlier this year, 'Yellow Line' concept too was introduced to boost motorist sentiment, but no official guidelines were issued on allowing motorist pass by toll plaza without payment," said a Maharashtra state official.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-you-can-skip-toll-at-nhai-booths-on-highways-2507939

Waiting at the toll plaza for more than 3 minutes? Don't pay the toll tax

By Team Asianet Newsable | 01:13 PM July 19, 2017

Highlights

• This directive was in response to an RTI filed by an advocate Hariom Jindal last year.
• Jindal posted the directive by the National Highway Authority of India on his personal Facebook account. 
• The commuters are free to pass the toll naka without paying tax if they have to wait for more than 3 minutes

Waiting at the toll plaza is rather distressing. However, every cloud has a silver lining and this one is no exception. In response to an RTI filed by an advocate Hariom Jindal last year, it was revealed that any vehicles crossing the toll plaza had to do in three minutes. In case the time exceeds the stipulated waiting time, the commuters are free to pass without paying anything.

Just to prove that this is not a hoax, Jindal posted the directive by the National Highway Authority of India on his personal Facebook account.

https://www.rushlane.com/do-not-pay-toll-if-wait-time-is-3-min-12247129.html

 

 

Withdrawal of toll exemption to Armymen stayed

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 23,  2015
Granting interim relief to serving defence personnel, the Armed Forces Tribunal has stayed the operation of a letter issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MRTH) to withdraw the exemption provided to them from paying toll tax across the country.

Taking up a petition filed by a serving army officer, Maj P Hota, averring that the letter was in contravention of legislative provisions and earlier letters issued by the MRTH and attempted to take away a statutory condition of service of serving military personnel, the Tribunal today ordered that the letter would be kept in abeyance till the matter was appropriately resolved.

Serving defence personnel had been up in arms against the letter issued by Director (Tolls) in the MRTH on June 17, 2014, in which it was stated that toll exemption was only available to defence personnel while travelling “on duty”. However, Section 3(a) of the Act does not contain any stipulation of being “on duty” for personnel of the regular Army and the provision of “duty” was applicable only to Territorial Army and NCC personnel under Sections 3(b) and 3(c).

The Services Headquarters had also recently pointed out to the MRTH that the letter, ostensibly issued under the garb of a clarification under the Right to Information Act, was against the Act and it was also in contravention of earlier letters and clarifications issued by MRTH after consulting the Law Ministry which stated that there was no requirement of being “on duty” for personnel of regular forces.

The MRTH had recently clarified that the impugned letter was being re-examined, for which comments of the MoD were being sought. The petitioner has also requested the Tribunal to direct the MRTH, MoD and the Army headquarters to coordinate and resolve the controversy in a time-bound manner.

The provisions of Section 3 of the Act were earlier challenged before the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2006, which upheld toll exemption to defence personnel. The orders were also later upheld by the Supreme Court.

[The Tribune]

AFT stays order cancelling toll exemption to defence personnel

Ajay Sura, TNN | Feb 24, 2015, 01.39AM IST

 

CHANDIGARH: In a relief to Army personnel, Chandigarh bench of the armed forces tribunal (AFT) on Friday stayed an order issued by the ministry of road transport and highways, cancelling the toll tax exemption granted to the defence personnel.

 

Hearing a petition filed by Maj P Hota, pleading that the letter issued by the transport ministry was an attempt to take away a statutory condition of serving military personnel, the AFT has directed that order issued on June 17, 2014 would be "kept in abeyance till the matter is appropriately resolved".

 

With this, the personnel would continue to be exempted from toll tax even if they are not "on duty" or travelling in their private vehicle.

 

The tribunal also issued notice to the Union government seeking its reply and fixed the next hearing on May 27.

 

The petitioner had requested the AFT to direct the ministries of transport and defence and the Army headquarters to coordinate and resolve the controversy in a time-bound manner.

 

Serving defence personnel have been up in arms against the letter issued by director (tolls) of the transport ministry in which it was stated that toll exemption was only available to defence personnel traveling "on duty".

 

However Section 3(a) of the Indian Tolls (Army & Air Force) Act, 1901 does not contain any stipulation of being "on duty" for personnel of the regular Army and the provision of "duty" is only applicable to Territorial Army and NCC personnel under Sections 3(b) and 3(c).

 

The defence services headquarters had also recently pointed out to the transport ministry that the order was against the Act and was also in contravention of earlier letters, which stated that there was no requirement of being "on duty" for personnel of regular forces.

 

The petitioner in this case also pointed out that the provisions of Section 3 of the Act were earlier challenged before the Punjab and Haryana high court in 2006, which upheld toll exemption to defence personnel.

 

 

[Times of India]