Transporters, commuters hit by skyrocketing toll tax

Rate silently increased from 75% to 192%, leaving all stakeholders shocked


Imran Adnan December 28, 2017
PHOTO: EXPRESS

LAHORE: A couple of days after the inauguration of Lahore Ring Road’s (LRR) Southern Loops 1 and 2, authorities have silently increased toll tax by 75% to 192%, The Express Tribune learnt on Wednesday.

The exorbitant increase in toll tax has drawn severe criticism from commuters, especially transporters, who have threatened authorities they will halt the movement of all goods in the provincial capital if the rates were not revised.

Pakistan Goods Transporters Association (LGTA) General Secretary Nabeel Mahmood Tariq said after inauguration of the LRR southern loop, authorities jacked up toll tax from Rs120 to Rs350 for trucks and trailers, which was completely unjustified.

UoS organises two-day workshop

The LGTA representatives had already scheduled a meeting with Lahore Ring Road Authority (LRRA) officials to express their concerns about the exorbitant increase in tax rates. “If they failed to address our grievances, transporters will be compelled to shut good transport operations in the provincial capital,” he underlined.

Responding to a question, he said LRRA officials conveyed to them that the road was built under a private-public partnership on a build-own-transfer (BOT) basis. Therefore, toll tax had to be paid to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) which invested billions of rupees on the construction of this road.

A motorist, Jawad Rafique, complained toll tax rates for cars and jeeps had been increased from Rs20 to Rs35 per vehicle. He highlighted that the government had doubled toll tax rates from Rs10 to Rs20 on cars last year and suddenly they jacked up the rates again.

He appealed to the Supreme Court of Pakistan chief justice to take note of the issue and stop authorities from fleecing citizens on the pretext of development. “The government has imposed tax on each and every utility and commodity in the country. Someone should ask authorities where it was using taxpayers’ money if roads are built through public-private partnerships and citizens have to rob banks to pay taxes, he argued.

Similar, remarks were made by several other citizens. A large number of commuters also posted pictures of LRR toll tax tickets on social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter.

A social media user, Asad Sheikh, posted on his Facebook wall, “So the Ring Road Lahore increased their toll to an insane level by almost double margin which seriously doesn’t make any sense. I fail to understand why people are bashing the Punjab government for it when it...” Another user, Asghar Shah, has posted a toll tax ticket of Rs35 with a caption, “Lahore Ring Road is under the FWO which is an Army organisation and they are running it on a build and operate basis, so it’s not under the Punjab government anymore.”

Violence Against Women: Salman Sufi honoured for his work

Speaking to The Express Tribune, an official of the LRRA said the FWO had increased toll tax rates because it has invested around Rs20 billion for the construction of this road. As per an agreement with the government, FWO is authorised to further toll tax rates over the next year to recover its investment along with profit, he disclosed.

He said the government had only invested around Rs4.5 billion for construction of the southern loop and the rest of the investment of the more than Rs24 billion project was put in by FWO. The official added the concessionary period for Ring Road is 25 years after which it will be handed over to the government.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28th, 2017.

COMMENTS (1)

Farooq Ahmed | 6 years ago | Reply Let’s learn to pay for facilities, the service providers on the other hand should not take irrational decisions.
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ