Should toll charges be scrapped?
Should toll charges be scrapped?
Very recently there was a furore in Maharashtra after the MNS vandalized a poll booth in the city and asked the people of the state to abolish the toll tax. The party said that the poor road conditions were the major reason behind this decision. But this gave rise to a new debate about the legitimacy of toll taxes. Lets see if these taxes are reasonable or not:-
For
1. Toll taxes have no fixed time limit attached to it. There are toll booths in the country which are still charging the tax-payers after 20 years of construction.
2. Toll taxes are a double whamy as while we go through the highway as well as when we return we are charged with the same amount of tax; irrespective of the duration of visit.
3. There is no mechanism to ensure the quality of roads even after paying huge amount of money as toll tax.
4. Toll tax amounts to double taxation as the citizens already pay certain taxes to the government for infrastructure purpose.
5. The companies make toll taxes as an instrument to earn as much profit as possible which is not reasonable.
Against
1. Toll taxes are levied by various construction companies to provide better quality infrastructure of roads.
2. Such taxes are taken only for the benefit of the tax-payers. The ultimate profit of express-ways or highways is experienced by the public.
3. Because the expenditure involved in bulding roads is too high the government can’t bear the whole expense as it can land the economy in huge trouble. So, citizens have to pay taxes.
4. The amount charged is not very high and the quantum of it is decided after agreement between government and the company.
5. Toll taxes are further utilized to maintain the built-up infrastructure of roads.
Conclusion
The fact that toll taxes have lost their purpose and become a tool to excavate money from the tax-payers is, to a great extent, true. But it can also not be denied that without levying such taxes high end infrastructure can’t be made. What needs to be done is to fix a time limit upto which the tax will be levied and also create a regulatory body for monitoring the quality of infrastructure. Only then the ultimate benefit of such taxes can be shifted towards the tax-payers instead of the construction companies.
Discussion
- RE: Should toll charges be scrapped? -Rishika Jalan (04/26/14)
- In my opinion, toll charges should not be scrapped. Tolls are collected to ensure that the respective roads and highways are maintained and the infrastructure is up to date. In the construction and maintenance of highways, a lot of expenses are incurred and such high amounts cannot be afforded by the government alone. Thus to share the cost of repair of wear and tear, tolls are charged by public. It is a nominal amount charged only to those who are using the road themselves. It is a fair way for the state to balance its resources and to also keep upgrading the road from time to time. Some may think that these tolls which being charged are not utilized efficiently. This might be true. Thus a proper regulatory body should be incorporated to keep a track of these funds and to ensure that it being utilized towards the benefit of the public.
