Tax Collection on Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway Toll Plaza Scrapped Wednesday Feb 19,2014

In a big relief for lakhs of commuters who use the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway daily, tax collection on the toll plaza near the Delhi-Gurgaon border was scrapped on Wednesday midnight.

If you've ever been in one of the two-lakh cars that pass through the Gurgaon-Delhi toll plaza on NH-8, you'll know just why it's the most hated part of the interstate commute

The Sirhaul toll plaza was a traffic nightmare for over two lakh commuters. It sometimes witnessed jams nearly three kilometres long; commuters often took nearly an hour to cross it.

Snaking double-lane queues, drivers with bad cases of road rage and a general state of anarchy-on-wheels  make what should be a 10-minute drive-through a 30-minute nightmare from the depths of traffic hell.

The relief for commuters came following a Court-backed settlement between -

• National Highway Authority of India (NHAI)
• private operator Delhi-Gurgaon Super Connectivity Limited (DGSCL) and 
• lead financier IDFC

The tripartite agreement now says no toll or user fee shall be collected from "km 24 toll plaza and the said toll plaza shall be dismantled."

 The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has however been allowed to charge entry tax from commercial vehicles.

While commuters have been exempted from paying tax at the Sirhaul toll plaza, tax collection will continue at Kherki-Dhaula, the far end of the 27.7 km Expressway where to compensate for fewer vehicles, commuters will now have to pay Rs. 56, double of what they are being currently charged