In a major announcement ahead of the assembly polls, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has announced that light motor vehicles will no longer need to pay toll at any of the five toll booths leading into Mumbai.
The toll waiver will come into effect from 12 am tonight and applies to toll booths at Dahisar, Mulund, Vashi, Airoli and Tinhath Naka
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Shinde made the announcement during a Maharashtra Cabinet meeting held by him ahead of the Assembly polls slated to be held at the year-end.
Light motor vehicles are those which are primarily designed for carrying passengers or goods. Vehicles in this category include cars, jeeps, vans and small trucks.
The waiver is expected to boost the movement of people, who are travelling in and out of Mumbai ahead of Diwali.
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Maharashtra minister Dadaji Dagadu Bhuse said “At the time of entry into Mumbai, there were 5 toll plazas, including Dahisar toll, Anand Nagar toll, Vaishali, Airoli and Mulund. Rs 45 and Rs 75 were charged at these tolls, this was in effect till 2026. About 3.5 lakh vehicles used to travel up and down. About 70,000 of them were heavy vehicles and 2.80 lakh were light vehicles. Today, the government has decided to exempt light vehicles from toll after 12 midnight… The time that people used to spend in queues will be saved. The government was discussing it for many months and today this revolutionary decision has been taken.”
In 1995, Nitin Gadkari, the then Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) minister had started construction of 52 bridges and underpasses at a cost of Rs 1,560 crore.
As soon as the construction of the bridges reached its final stage, a tender was floated in 1999 for the construction of toll booths.
In 2002, toll booths were first erected at the entrances of the city to recover the cost of these bridges.
According to activists, the maintenance money and cost has been recovered 10 years ago but government continued to collect toll.
Last year, government extended the toll tax recovery for 3 more years ie 2027 and they were expecting Rs 11,000 crore.
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On five entry points more than 6 lakhs vehicles pass daily of that 80 percent vehicles are LMV.
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