SC refuses to resume toll tax on DND flyway for now

New Delhi [India], Jan. 23 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday refused to resume the toll tax on Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) flyway for now. The apex court said that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) sought time of eight weeks to file a reply in the case. Earlier, the Noida Toll Bridge Company Limited (NTBCL) filed a plea in the top court in connection with the waving off the toll tax on Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) flyway. In October last year, the apex court had refused to stay the Allahabad High Court's order that no toll will be collected from commuters moving on the DND till further orders. The Noida Toll Bridge Company Limited had filed a plea in the apex court against the Allahabad High Court's order, asking it to stop collecting toll from commuters plying on the DND flyway connecting Delhi and neighbouring Noida. The apex court said that it will get the profit account of DND toll company audited either by CAG or by an independent auditor to find whether the profit recovered was adequate. The flyover connects Delhi on the west bank of the Yamuna with Noida and East Delhi. A division bench comprising Justices Arun Tandon and Sunita Agarwal passed the order while allowing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the Federation of Noida Residents' Welfare Association. The PIL, which was filed in 2012, had challenged the "levy and collection of toll in the name of user fee by the Noida Toll Bridge Company". Commuters travelling from Delhi to Noida or East Delhi have heaved a sigh of relief over not being told to pay Rs. 56 to and fro (Rs.28 each way) every day to facilitate a smooth entry and exit in the Delhi-NCR region. Earlier last year in August, a group of protesters had demanded that the Rs. 28 toll be scrapped, alleging that the Noida Toll Bridge Company had already made profits, but were still charging toll. The expressway, which opened in 2001, considerably reduces the travel time between Delhi and Noida. Commuters, however, often face huge traffic jams. Nearly 1.5 lakh vehicles take the route daily. (ANI)