Bengaluru: The high court ruled that toll collection at the Somanahalli toll plaza on Kanakapura Road without installing a closed user fee collection system violated the national highways rules.It ordered the issuance of free local resident passes within a month. Allowing a petition filed by villagers of Somanahalli, Nelaguli and Kaggalipura, Justice Suraj Govindaraj also held that the location of the toll plaza on National Highway 209 violated the rules, which prescribed that such a facility must be located 10km beyond of municipal or local town limits.The judge added that levying the toll without providing a service route was arbitrary and unreasonable.The court directed the NHAI and the concessionaire to issue free local resident passes, without levy of any toll or user fee, to the petitioners and all other similarly placed residents who applied for such passes, subject to verification of their residency. The court said the exercise must be completed within 30 days. Justice Govindaraj added that if the directions were not complied with, the respondents shall forthwith cease the collection of toll at Somanahalli and shall relocate the toll plaza to a location in conformity with the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008.Manjesh Kumar and other villagers had moved the court in 2024. They said that though the Kaggalipura, Taralu and Somanahalli gram panchayats requested the concessionaire not to set up the toll plaza until service roads were provided, it was not considered, and the new concessionaire was putting infrastructure in place for the collection of toll.The petitioners pointed out that the newly established Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) extended beyond Somanahalli village and the toll plaza fell within its jurisdiction.They added that the distance between the Somanahalli toll plaza and the next toll plaza was approximately 89km, resulting in them being compelled to pay the toll calculated for the entire stretch despite using only a small portion.On the other hand, the govt advocate submitted that there was no prohibition on setting up toll plazas in the vicinity of village panchayats. The court was told that petitioners could avail passes available at Rs 340 per month.Justice Govindaraj noted that the statutory restriction of maintaining a minimum distance of 60km between toll plazas left a buffer of nearly 29km, within which the Somanahalli toll plaza could be shifted, if required.Rejecting the argument of the govt, the judge pointed out that discounted or concessional passes were intended only to mitigate the incidence of toll for certain categories of users and could not be construed as a substitute for compliance with the mandatory location restrictions. He said it also could not legitimise the levy of toll where locals were left with no real choice but to repeatedly traverse the toll plaza for access to essential services.“In the present case, the respondents chose the most onerous course for the citizen: they neither provided a service road nor an alternate road; they declined to implement a closed user fee collection system; and yet they insisted upon toll collection, effectively compelling residents to pay for every act of daily existence. This court is unable to countenance such an abdication of responsibility. In the absence of all three safeguards, the insistence on toll collection from local residents is plainly unjust, oppressive and contrary to the scheme of the Fee Rules, 2008,” the judge observed while allowing the petition.
