Commuters on the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway were surprised to see that the toll deducted in the FASTag account was more than what was being collected earlier.
Many commuters using cars noticed ₹165 being deducted for a one-way journey, instead of ₹135 collected earlier. Sources said that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has revised the toll, increasing it by 22% from June 1.
While the toll charge for a single-way journey on the expressway for cars was ₹135, it has been increased to ₹165 and for a return journey on the same day, the charges will jump from ₹205 to ₹250. Similarly, light commercial vehicles (LCV) and mini-buses will have to pay ₹270 instead of ₹220 for a one-way trip and ₹405 (earlier ₹330) for a return journey while buses and trucks will have to pay ₹565 and ₹850 for a single-way and two-way journey, respectively.
Earlier, as part of the annual revision of toll prices across the country, the NHAI had decided to enforce a hike in toll fee starting from April 1. However following public outrage, this was rolled back by the NHAI.
Srinivas Kumar, a regular commuter, told The Hindu that on June 2, when he travelled from Bengaluru towards Mysuru, his FASTag charged ₹165 which is ₹30 extra from earlier charge. “I noticed the message two days back and only then I got to know that NHAI has increased the toll. Most people didn’t even notice the increase,” he added.
The NHAI has also put up the fee on the highway toll plaza signage boards near the toll plaza for public information. Praveen Rao, another commuter, said, “I was wondering why the toll deducted was more and realised it only later. The NHAI should inform the public about such changes.”
When The Hindu contacted NHAI officials, they were not available for comment.
