Does toll take a toll on you?

Roads are the property of the Government. One has to pay for using the Roads.

But, as a user of the Road, if you have any grievance pertaining to Damages caused to your vehicle due bad roads, you can approach Consumer Forms. You have a right to claim the damages.

The damage occurs over a period of time and it would be hard to prove that.. the question is do these tools take a toll on you. What is your opinion. 

My reply is. It doesn't take a toll on me. because I abide by the law and Rules

We (my family) need to travel so often out of state by road. The toll booths on these out of state roads take a toll on us and our finances.

After having paid road tax for our vehicles, paying tax on infrastructure we end up paying tax all the way around.

What irks me is that some of the roads are so bad that the government need to pay us  for the damages it causes our vehicles and our backs.

Do you think it is justified to tax us so much.. especially the middle class ?

Sofs, this is something that I too get annoyed about... People who do not drive regularly and pay tolls may not understand this. Most of this toll booths are managed by private companies ( in my state at least) because they have done the road work and the government lets them collect tolls because they are unable to pay them.There have been many protests here because the toll collected was exorbitant , after which they bring it down, which I fee is a ploy ...Either way, on a state highway there are 4 -5 tolls which means you are paying 200 rupees or more on tolls if you are covering a distance of 300 kms..

usha manohar wrote:

We (my family) need to travel so often out of state by road. The toll booths on these out of state roads take a toll on us and our finances.

After having paid road tax for our vehicles, paying tax on infrastructure we end up paying tax all the way around.

What irks me is that some of the roads are so bad that the government need to pay us  for the damages it causes our vehicles and our backs.

Do you think it is justified to tax us so much.. especially the middle class ?

Sofs, this is something that I too get annoyed about... People who do not drive regularly and pay tolls may not understand this. Most of this toll booths are managed by private companies ( in my state at least) because they have done the road work and the government lets them collect tolls because they are unable to pay them.There have been many protests here because the toll collected was exorbitant , after which they bring it down, which I fee is a ploy ...Either way, on a state highway there are 4 -5 tolls which means you are paying 200 rupees or more on tolls if you are covering a distance of 300 kms..

200 rupees is if I remember rightly a very low amount, I am sure it is much higher. Not only is this is monetarily taxing on you, You have so many of them en route that  you end up wasting so much time standing in long queues. It is really annoying that you cannot pay once and proceed to your destination. Most countries have a system where you pay what you have to and the system will not hold you back.

Why don't we use all the technology to improve our systems.  

To understand taxation, one need not be a regular traveler. I use Bus. The bus owner has to pay the toll tax. Do you think he pays from his pocket? He charges toll tax from Bus users..It results in hike in Bus fares.

I can tell you this happens often with me. There are so many toll roads/booths in my area which cost more than petrol costs me in some cases. I traveled about 500 kms on 5th of this month and paid toll tax on five points ( I paid return toll tax) The worst was when I had pay Rs 135 at a point on highway even though I had to take a diversion 3 kms ahead on to Nainital road for the last stretch of 45 kms  which was not part of the toll road. So I paid 135 extra out of 400 that I paid in total which could be 500 if I had not taken return option.

I don't understand why do they charge road tax if they have to make all roads as toll ways and express highways. 

suni51 wrote:

I can tell you this happens often with me. There are so many toll roads/booths in my area which cost more than petrol costs me in some cases. I traveled about 500 kms on 5th of this month and paid toll tax on five points ( I paid return toll tax) The worst was when I had pay Rs 135 at a point on highway even though I had to take a diversion 3 kms ahead on to Nainital road for the last stretch of 45 kms  which was not part of the toll road. So I paid 135 extra out of 400 that I paid in total which could be 500 if I had not taken return option.

I don't understand why do they charge road tax if they have to make all roads as toll ways and express highways. 

That is exactly my problem. I really don't understand this system. Oh yes, those diversions, and cost of diesel/petrol add up to the travel costs. You seem to be burden with taxes twice and thrice over.  

Any road, be it a highway or an express high way are Built by the government. It's its property.Where from  the revenue comes ? They throw the burden on the road user. You cannot expect to live in a house owned by somebody free of rent.

rambabu wrote:

My reply is. It doesn't take a toll on me. because I abide by the law and Rules

 

This reply does not make sense, we all are abiding by the country's road rules and as vehicle owners paying road tax for maintenance ...What we are discussing here is the burden of tolls on people !

It makes lot of sense.I replied already. It's certainly a burden. though I use Bus frequently,  the bus owners collect the tax they paid from the Bus users.Bus fare increase. Is not a burden ?

rambabu wrote:

Roads are the property of the Government. One has to pay for using the Roads.

But, as a user of the Road, if you have any grievance pertaining to Damages caused to your vehicle due bad roads, you can approach Consumer Forms. You have a right to claim the damages.

 Exactly, roads are property of government and the civilians pay road tax in different forms like you start paying as soon as you buy a vehicle or pay surcharges at different points including purchase of petrol/diesel. This is government's duty to provide safe roads to commuters.  

suni51 wrote:

rambabu wrote:

Roads are the property of the Government. One has to pay for using the Roads.

But, as a user of the Road, if you have any grievance pertaining to Damages caused to your vehicle due bad roads, you can approach Consumer Forms. You have a right to claim the damages.

 Exactly, roads are property of government and the civilians pay road tax in different forms like you start paying as soon as you buy a vehicle or pay surcharges at different points including purchase of petrol/diesel. This is government's duty to provide safe roads to commuters.  

Definetey it's the Government's duty to provide safe roads to the user. In case, the government fails in it's duty, as a user of the road, Consumer forums are there for redressal. These forums do not charge anything. They appoint a lawyer also. Many road users who claimed damages for bad road conditions were compensated.

 

rambabu wrote:

suni51 wrote:

rambabu wrote:

Roads are the property of the Government. One has to pay for using the Roads.

But, as a user of the Road, if you have any grievance pertaining to Damages caused to your vehicle due bad roads, you can approach Consumer Forms. You have a right to claim the damages.

 Exactly, roads are property of government and the civilians pay road tax in different forms like you start paying as soon as you buy a vehicle or pay surcharges at different points including purchase of petrol/diesel. This is government's duty to provide safe roads to commuters.  

Definetey it's the Government's duty to provide safe roads to the user. In case, the government fails in it's duty, as a user of the road, Consumer forums are there for redressal. These forums do not charge anything. They appoint a lawyer also. Many road users who claimed damages for bad road conditions were compensated.

 

 

This thread discussion is regarding toll tax which is extra burden on commuters and not bad roads please. Commuters in this case are paying multiple taxes for using the same roads which is unfair on part of the government.

 

 

Many road construction work is given to private companies, and the companies are allowed to collect the money by having toll booths on those roads. But I have heard in news,  many times these tolls still there on the roads even after the collection of enough money.  The roads should be made toll free after the collection of desired money. Our government should strictly observe this.

Of course, alternative measures are to be devised by the Government to reduce the burden on the Road users.

Manoj Kumar Lamba wrote:

Many road construction work is given to private companies, and the companies are allowed to collect the money by having toll booths on those roads. But I have heard in news,  many times these tolls still there on the roads even after the collection of enough money.  The roads should be made toll free after the collection of desired money. Our government should strictly observe this.

Most of the time this is what happens..The government takes over fro the private companies after the period is over and the company has been compensated in full. On bangalore - Mangalore Highway we had one toll booth owned by a private company in the nineties,  somewhere in between because a bridge was constructed and four-laning was done for about 3 kms in collaboration with National Highway authorities . Now this toll continues and there are 4 more added in this 350 km stretch and to enter Bangalore you have to go through 3 tolls .So in effect to get to Bangalore you have to cross 8 tolls ...

Toll Tax is something that a road user cannot escape from. If the extension of roads and building bridges is undertaken by private contractors you can expect quality. The roads long last. But the expenditure involved is also more. And all this is collected from the Road user in the name of Toll Tax,

I think a frequent traveler knows how it feels like when he has to travel on a long rout and stops every 10-40 kilometers to pay a hefty sum and wait in long queues on both ways for the same roads which he has been using for long time without paying anything or very little... That is toll tax for you and not to talk about the surcharges added in fuel's cost in the name of development of roads. I have not mentioned the road tax because that was always there.

Yes . I travel by Bus to go to a group of villages adopted by my employer in Vizag. There i'm supposed to teach art to the village slum dwellers. As I volunteered to take up the classes my employer will not pay my Bus fares. That's why I know the pains of Toll Taxes.