By IANS,
Chandigarh : Motorists will continue to enjoy a toll-free, hassle-free and non-chaotic run through the Gurgaon-Delhi expressway toll plaza till Sep 25 with the Punjab and Haryana High Court Thursday extending the toll collection ban.
A division bench of Chief Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice R.K. Jain, which had earlier restrained the expressway concessionaire, Delhi Gurgaon Super Connectivity Limited, from collecting toll from Sep 4 till Thursday (Sep 20), extended the ban on toll collection till Sep 25, the next date for hearing.
The concessionaire was allowed to collect toll from commercial vehicles from 6 p.m. Thursday.
The court directed the concessionaire to implement steps to de-congest the expressway toll plaza by Sunday.
Former chief justice Mukul Mudgal has been appointed as the local commissioner by the bench to inspect the new measures to de-congest the toll plaza and report to the high court by Monday.
Coming down heavily on the toll plaza management for failing to remove traffic snarls, the court Sep 4 ordered that the concessionaire will not collect toll from vehicles for 15 days.
The bench expressed its displeasure at the concessionaire not being able to control traffic snarls at the busy toll plaza which sees tens of thousands of vehicles cross it every day. The concessionaire collects millions of rupees from toll daily.
It had directed the National Highways Authority of India to convene a meeting with the concessionaire and the state government to find a permanent solution to the traffic snarls at the toll plaza.
The court pointed out that the fight between the three sides was leading to unnecessary harassment of commuters daily.
The toll plaza sees long queues of cars and other vehicles, causing traffic jams, throughout the day. Commuters on the expressway have been facing a harrowing time due to the traffic snarls at the toll plaza.