Levy only 20% fee at Lakhanpur, Ban toll plazas: HC to govt, NHAI

Adjudicating a public interest litigation (PIL), the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on Tuesday directed the Union ministry of road transport and highways, the National Highway Authority of India and the J&K government to levy only 20% of the toll fee with immediate effect at Lakhanpur and Ban toll plazas.

- Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

JAMMU: Adjudicating a public interest litigation (PIL), the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on Tuesday directed the Union ministry of road transport and highways, the National Highway Authority of India and the J&K government to levy only 20% of the toll fee with immediate effect at Lakhanpur and Ban toll plazas. The decision would provide relief to commuters, including Vaishno Devi pilgrims.

Petitioner Sugandha Sawhney, 29, of Jammu, had filed the PIL, seeking direction to the respondents to exempt toll tax at Lakhanpur plaza in Kathua, Thandi Khui toll plaza and Ban toll plaza in Nagrota till the Pathankot-Udhampur stretch, under the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway project, gets fully operational.