Karnataka HC takes cognisance of chaos on Bengaluru-Mysuru e-way

The Karnataka High Court has taken suo motu cognisance of various media reports on the inconvenience caused to motorists on Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway on the first day of toll collection on Tuesday (march 14).

A division bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Ashok S Kinagi has directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to submit its response by April 11.

The bench was hearing a PIL on incomplete work of road-widening on National Highway 209 from Bengaluru to Kanakapura town.

Also read: How Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway is changing travel in South India

Toll collection issues

Referring to media reports, the court noted that issues such as beginning of toll collection without completion of work, improper functioning of boom barriers and technical glitches in automatic fast tag scanners have become a cause for concern.

It is also stated that because of the failure in the fast tag system, the commuters were facing difficulty and were asked to take up the service road, after spending extra time.

NH Rules

Citing the NH (Determination of Toll) Rules-2008, the court pointed out that there are certain prerequisites, including publication of a notification and a stipulated period before the collection can be started. Saying that this issue needs consideration, the bench asked NHAI to submit a response of in three weeks.

With regard to the PIL concerning widening of Bengaluru-Kanakapura stretch, the court appointed advocate Shivaprasad Shantanagoudar as its commissioner to inspect  and verify the claims of petitioners and NHAI.

Also read: Toll collection through FASTag grows 46 pc in 2022: NHAI

Meanwhile, Mysuru MP Pratap Simha said it would be not appropriate to collect full toll from Ramanagara and Channapatna travellers. He said that he has spoken to NHAI officials to rectify the problem in toll collection. The MP added that owing to court cases, service road work has got delayed.