DND flyway to remain toll free as SC junks Noida Toll Bridge Co's review plea
The DND flyway will remain toll-free. The Supreme Court dismissed Noida Toll Bridge Company's review petition. This upholds an earlier decision halting toll collection on the Delhi-Noida Direct flyway. The court cited a CAG report indicating the company had already recovered costs and profits. The court criticised NOIDA for allowing indefinite exploitation of users.
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The DND flyway will remain toll-free, as the Supreme Court of India (SC) on Friday dismissed the Noida Toll Bridge Company 's (NTBCL) review petition.This comes in response to a plea filed by NTBCL seeking a review of its December order, which prohibited the company from collecting toll charges on the Delhi- Noida Direct (DND) flyway, a crucial route connecting Delhi and Noida, Uttar Pradesh.In 2016, the Supreme Court had upheld a 2016 decision by the Allahabad High Court , which had halted toll collection on the flyway. The SC had also dismissed NTBCL's appeal on December 20.The DND flyway, which has been in operation since 2001, significantly reduced traffic congestion and travel time between Delhi and Noida. Prior to the High Court ruling, commuters had to pay Rs 28 for a one-way trip or Rs 56 for a round trip on the expressway.Earlier, the SC had criticised the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA) for permitting a toll company to exploit users indefinitely, stating that the contract awarded to NTBCL through a Concession Agreement was unfair, unjust, and inconsistent with constitutional norms. The court also ruled that NOIDA had exceeded its authority by allowing the company to impose toll charges, rendering such a delegation of power invalid.The Concession Agreement, signed in 1997 between NTBCL, Noida, and Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS), was for the construction of the eight-lane DND flyway, which stretches 9.2 km from Noida to Delhi, under the build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) model. NTBCL, promoted by IL&FS, had the right to levy and collect tolls.Referring to a report from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), the SC bench noted that NTBCL had already recovered both the construction cost and a fair profit since the flyway's opening in 2001. The report stated that NTBCL had incurred Rs 1,136 crore in expenses, including unrecovered project costs and inflated expenditures on items such as travel, legal fees, and excessive employee salaries and bonuses. The court emphasised that no entity should be allowed to make unjust profit from public property at the expense of the public.The Federation of Noida Residents Welfare Associations had previously challenged the toll collection in the High Court, leading to the suspension of the toll charges.
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