Now, pay 50% more to travel on ORR

Commuters travelling through the Outer Ring Road (ORR) have to shell out more money, with the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority deciding to hike toll charges from February 15. According to commissioner T. Chiranjeevulu, the new tariff is based on toll rates prescribed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for highway bypasses — 1.5 times the NHAI base rates.

A car, a jeep, a van or any Light Motor Vehicle that earlier paid a toll tax of `1.05 per km will have to pay `1.58 per km after February 15; a hike of 50 per cent. Likewise, prices were hiked by 50 per cent for minibuses, oversized vehicles etc that come under different categories. For buses and 2-axle trucks, the hike was limited to 27 per cent.

The HMDA has explained that the existing toll rates on the eight-lane ORR are comparatively lower than those of similar projects like Yamuna Expressway, Mumbai-Pune Expressway, and Delhi-Noida Expressway, which are the only 6-lane roads.

In view of this, the authority has sent a proposal to the government two months ago. It wanted toll rates to be enhanced to meet the Operation and Maintenance expenditure of ORR as also of other services. The file was approved a few days ago, paving way for the tariff hike. This is the first tariff hike on ORR after its inauguration five years ago.

At present, the metropolitan body earns a revenue of `10.87crore a month from the contractor. After the hike, the revenues are likely to cross over `14 crore.

B. Anand Mohan, chief general manager, ORR, said an effort would be made to raise awareness among the public on this decision. “The software at all toll booths will have to be changed to implement new tariffs. Also, signboards have to be changed to show the new tariff structure,” he said.