MSRDC and MEPL will continue to collect tax for another 12 years of its lease
'Good News for Mumbaikars. Dahisar toll naka is finally scrapped from September 18 2014. MEP is still collecting toll illegally but if you don't pay them, they will not stop you. So kindly stop paying tolls.'
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If you have received this SMS or a social media post, don’t rejoice just as yet.
According to Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) and Mumbai Entry Points Ltd (MEPL), the toll collection company, it is just a rumour and to find the culprit, who has spread this rumour, it has decided to take help of the Mumbai police’s cyber cell.
The above message was circulated following mid-day reports on how the MEPL, which won the contract to monitor and run the tolls at five entry points in Mumbai in November 2010, has collected more than R2,032.41 crore within 43 months. This means that the toll operator has earned back the advance of R2,100 crore it paid MSRDC within four years of its contract, and has another 12 years to go.
MEPL Director Jayant Mahiskar confirmed the rumour. “The 16-year lease for the toll points is passed by the High Court. Neither MSRDC nor the state government has issued any closure order of Dahisar Toll Plaza,” he said.
The MSRDC website also states that by the end of their contract period, it is expected to earn around R11,545.43 crore. According to the contract, MEPL’s toll collection will remain effective till November 2026, during which they will also maintain 27 flyovers of Western, Eastern and Sion-Panvel Highways.