The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has taken exception to the state governments delay in remitting the dues to the concessionaires of various toll plazas in the state, accumulated by way of non-payment of user fee by KSRTC buses and free passes to vehicles passing through these toll plazas.
According to the documents, at least Rs 235 crore is due from the under these heads to the concessionaires. Of the five toll plazas operating on the highways in the state namely at Paliyekkara (Thrissur), Walayar (Palakkad), Kumbalam and Ponnarimangalam (Ernakulam) and Kollam, the KSRTC is paying the user fee only at Kumbalam. The concessionaire of the toll plaza in Paliyekkara alone had pegged the dues from the KSRTC at Rs 104 crore till March this year, due from the state government as the user fee by the KSRTC.
The state government had issued free passes to car, van, jeep and Light commercial vehicles that belong to within 10km radius of the Paliyekkara toll plaza, in 2012. The government had then assured the concessionaire that the user fee for such vehicles that have been issued free passes will be paid by the government. But this amount has now accumulated up to Rs 129 crore, which also is yet to be paid. Further, close to Rs 1.5 crore is due in a similar case at Kumbalam toll plaza as well.
As per the agreement between the Union Government and the state, the state would bear 25% of the cost of land acquisition for the highways in the state, while the remaining will be borne by the NHAI. The NHAI has also asked the state government to clear its Consent for bearing 25% of the acquisition cost for four various highway projects running to 336km and the development cost has been estimated at Rs 25,000 crore.