Daily Times

In another effort to cope with financial crises at the department, the National Highway Authority (NHA) on Tuesday implemented the decision increasing toll taxes on its highways and motorways.

As per available information with Daily Times, the authority has planned to achieve revenue target of Rs 102 billion by end of 2024-25 against revenue collection of Rs 64 billion in last year (2023-24).

The decision for enhancing toll charges was supposed to be implemented on many key routes including the Lahore-Abdul Hakeem Motorway (M-3), Pindi Bhattian-Faisalabad-Multan Motorway (M-4), Multan-Sukkur Motorway (M-5), D I Khan-Hakla Motorway (M-14) and the Mansehra Expressway.

Under the revised rates, cars travelling on the Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway (M-1) will see their toll rise from Rs 350 to Rs 460. Wagons will now be charged Rs 720 up from Rs 550 while buses face an increase from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,300. For trucks, the toll tax will jump from Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,950.

On national highways, the toll for cars will increase from Rs 40 to Rs 50, wagons will be charged Rs 90 and buses will face a new rate of Rs 170 against previous rates of Rs 130. For 2 and 3-axle trucks, the tax will be Rs 210 while articulated trucks will be charged Rs 460 against Rs 160 and Rs 350 respectively.

In addition, tolls have been raised at key locations such as the Kohat Tunnel (N-55), Islamabad-Murree-Kohala Highway (N-75) and Mianwali Toll Plaza (N-135) with commuters facing higher charges across the board.

Additionally, as per documents, the NHA has planned to earn Rs 29,212 million per year through rationalization of toll rates as well as establishment of 55 new toll plazas.

Although the NHA’s annual revenue has significantly increased over the last five years, the department still faces a financial discrepancy of millions, with a large gap between its earnings and expenditures. Documents reveal that the authority’s revenue has nearly doubled, from Rs 32,394 million in 2018-19 to Rs 64,000 million in 2023-24. In five years, the NHA has mount up money from various sources such as Rs 178,894 million from toll income, Rs 37291 million from police fine, Rs 6,197 million from weigh income. Moreover, the authority has collected Rs 23,734 through different type as fee against issuance of different NOCs and as rental charges. It has earned Rs 61,589 million from bank profit and auction in said span of five years.

Chairman NHA Sheheryar Sultan informed to the Communications Minister Abdul Aleem Khan in a recent briefing that by number of M-Tag users has been increased to more than 92 per cent while the revenue of the NHA has also been significantly improved during last six months.

As per an official statement, the federal minister, while expressing satisfaction over the betterment, asked the NHA to adopt a Hi-Tech System and bring the entire working of the authority online in the shortest possible time.

He observed that the implementation of the best tracking system on all highways should be ensured in any case and in this regard any shortcoming will not be tolerated.

Abdul Aleem Khan further stated that the number of vehicles and all kinds of monitoring should be done on the motorways and GT roads and every vehicle should receive a message that it has paid with M-Tag or not.

Earlier, NHA authorities submitted details to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Communications, according to which the authority’s throw-forward has accumulated to Rs 2,226 billion. Lower budgetary allocations result in a significant backlog in the form of throw-forward liabilities and the piling up of loans for the organization, which also hampers project execution and leads to cost escalation.