The decline in public transport since early March that culminated in a nationwide lockdown from March 24 has taken a heavy toll on the toll receipts of the National Highway Authority of India and various private highway developers. According to an official source, from the usual level of Rs 67 crore a day, the overall toll receipts would be down more than a third in March and the decline would be much sharper in April. If the lockdown continues beyond mid-April and through the month, then April collections could even reduce almost to zilch.
Overall, there could be a 3% annual decline in toll collection in 2019-20. In 2018-19, a total of Rs 24,396 crore was collected as tolls, at a monthly average of Rs 2,033 crore. India had 570 operational fee plazas on the national highways across the country, as on October-end 2019.
