The Maharashtra government on Monday announced a complete toll waiver for light motor vehicles entering Mumbai at all five booths, with effect from October 14 midnight.
“There was a demand for the toll waiver due to the traffic jams at the toll booths,” Chief Minister Eknath Shinde told reporters after the state cabinet approved the toll waiver decision at a meeting held in Mumbai Monday morning.
The move comes ahead of the upcoming state assembly polls, likely to be announced in a day, an official said.
The toll waiver is expected to bring relief to people travelling in and out of Mumbai ahead of Diwali. Commuters will be able to travel without paying toll at the five booths - Dahisar, LBS Road-Mulund, Eastern Express Highway-Mulund, Airoli Creek Bridge and Vashi.
Light motor vehicles include cars (hatchbacks, sedans and SUVs), jeeps, vans, auto-rickshaws, taxis, delivery vans and small trucks.
More than six lakh vehicles cross Mumbai daily, of which 80 per cent are light motor vehicles, the official said.
The toll waiver move would save time, fuel and reduce pollution, Shinde said. “It was a long pending demand to waive toll at Mumbai's entry points. Many activists had approached the court demanding the toll waiver.”
“Just like we implemented Laadki Bahin, Laadka Bhau and Laadka Kisan, now we have taken this “masterstroke” decision for the commuters,” he said.
Maharashtra's Public works (public enterprises) minister Dada Bhuse said between Rs 45 and Rs 75 were charged for light motor vehicles at any of the five toll booths.
There are around 70,000 heavy vehicles travelling to and from Mumbai daily, he added. Heavy vehicles are categorised by their gross vehicle weight exceeding 7,500 kg and include trucks, trailers, tankers and other goods carriers' vehicles.
Shiv Sena-UBT MP Priyanka Chaturvedi called the toll waiver decision a "desperate measure" before the state assembly elections.
"Desperate measure just hours before the election code of conduct shows that Mahajhoothi government knows their days are numbered, so try and salvage whatever little they can to save themselves from the public's wrath.
Also because it has been under severe fire for the absolute and total collapse of law and order," she posted on X.
"Just like Ladki Bahin (Yojana) came at the back of a defeat, this toll decision comes at the back of an impending defeat," Chaturvedi said.
MNS chief Raj Thackeray, whose party workers have on many occasions vandalised toll booths, welcomed the Maharashtra government's decision to waive the toll for light motor vehicles.
"Congratulations to my “Maharashtra” soldiers. We fought hard for the demand for transparency in toll transactions. We were criticised for vandalising the toll booths but now every Mumbaikar can travel toll-free," he said.
He hoped that the decision was not taken keeping in mind the upcoming assembly polls.
The toll waiver is among the more than 150 decisions taken in a spate of state cabinet meetings over the past fortnight, an official in the Chief Minister's Office said.
The state cabinet on Monday also approved a proposal to name Maharashtra State Skills University after the late Ratan Tata.
The industrialist died in a Mumbai hospital at age 86 on 9 October.
Maharashtra State Skills University, located in Mumbai, was established in 2022. It offers a wide range of degree and diploma programmes at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
The Maharashtra cabinet also expressed shock over the killing of former state minister Baba Siddique and adopted a condolence resolution to this effect.
